AN 18-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with the abduction of a 14-year-old girl from Co Louth.
Nojus Maculevicius, from Blackrock in Co Louth, appeared in court in Belfast on Saturday via video link from Musgrave PSNI station.
He has been charged with five separating offences including that on Monday, April 19th, Maculevicius detained a person contrary to Article 4 of the Child Abduction Northern Ireland Order 1985.
In addition to the count of child abduction, Maculevicius was also charged with possession of an indecent image and driving a car without a licence or insurance.
A PSNI officer described to the court how the father of the young girl first contact gardaí on Monday to report his daughter had gone missing.
After the information was passed on to the PSNI, Maculevicius and the young girl were traced to a branch of Tesco in Newry and also in a garage in the city.
They were eventually located in east Belfast this past Thursday when a taxi driver contacted police to say they had been in his vehicle.
The PSNI officer objected to bail amid worries the 18-year-old could abscond to the Republic and refuse to return to Northern Ireland to face legal proceedings.
However, Maculevicius’s lawyer Sophie McClintock, of Belfast legal firm Phoenix Law, highlighted the fact he remained in full employment, has no criminal record and was a well-regarded athletic with a club in Dundalk.
He also lives with his parents and two brothers who were described as being “extremely supportive” of him while he has spent time in custody in Belfast.
His solicitor asked he be released on bail to his home address rather than to a bail address in Northern Ireland ahead of his trial.
District Judge Amada Henderson granted these bail requests dependent on a number of conditions.
His parents have been asked to provide a £5,000 cash surety and Maculevicius has been asked not to make any kind of contact, via phone or social media, with the teenage girl or his family.
He has also been asked to surrender his passport and is due in court via video link on May 4th.
