A 26-YEAR-OLD woman who fled across the Border with her boyfriend earlier this year has been remanded in custody after handing herself in to police at the weekend.

An arrest warrant had been issued last month for Nichola Philomena Leonard, of Beech Hill, Cavanaleck, Enniskillen, after she failed to turn up for court. She is facing a total of seven charges, relating to two separate incidents.

Last month, Fermanagh Magistrates Court heard that it was suspected Leonard had fled to the Republic of Ireland along with her partner, 26-year-old Brendan McLaughlin, of Tempo Road, Enniskillen.

He is also facing numerous charges, including two counts of attempted murder in connection with an alleged incident in Lisnaskea last October.

However, after being out of the jurisdiction for around two months, Leonard surrendered voluntarily at Enniskillen Police Station on Sunday and was brought before Fermanagh Magistrates Court on the following day.

In connection with the alleged incident in Lisnaskea on October 8, 2016, Leonard is charged with assisting another person in committing a relevant offence, namely attempted murder, and possessing a Class B controlled drug, namely cannabis.

Meanwhile, she is also facing five charges relating to a separate alleged incident on January 25, 2017.

The 26 year old is charged with entering a building, namely the Maple Practice in Lisnaskea, as a trespasser and stealing prescriptions and a stamp, making a false prescription for use in a fraud, possessing a false prescription for use in a fraud, presenting the false prescription at Armstrong’s Pharmacy and stealing a practice stamp belonging to Maple Practice.

After she was led into the dock in court on Monday, a PSNI officer strongly objected to her release from custody on bail.

The policewoman told the court that Leonard had left the jurisdiction in the middle of April along with her partner, after he had been granted High Court bail.

Extensive enquiries conducted by the PSNI revealed that the couple had initially resided in Ballyshannon, before moving on to Bundoran and then Letterkenny.

The officer told the court that, on Wednesday of last week, Brendan McLaughlin had been arrested by Gardai on a charge of dangerous driving.

He was subsequently sentenced to eight months in custody when he appeared in court the following day.

The policewoman alleged that McLaughlin was intending to appeal this conviction, but had been unable to get money to get released on bail.

She claimed that, if McLaughlin was successful in getting released from custody pending appeal, there was a “genuine risk” that Leonard would not turn up for future court appearances.

The PSNI officer also rejected claims that Leonard had returned to the jurisdiction for the sake of her children, who are all currently in the care of social services.

The policewoman told the court that there had been a court hearing relating to the defendant’s children on last Thursday, but Leonard had not given any instructions to her solicitor. Instead, on the same date, she was in court with McLaughlin in Donegal.

Defending counsel, Alan Blackburn, insisted that, while McLaughlin did have the right to appeal, he intended to serve out his time in Donegal.

The barrister said that Leonard hadn’t spoken to McLaughlin in a week and had “no reason” to return South.

Describing her previous record as “not serious”, Mr. Blackburn urged the judge to grant his client bail to an address that was available in Tempo, with a condition to report daily to the police.

But district judge, Nigel Broderick, observed that what concerned him most was the “uncertain status” of her co-accused.

The judge said he was not satisfied there were sufficient grounds for releasing the defendant on bail because of the risk she wouldn’t turn up for trial.

Mr. Broderick remanded Leonard in custody to appear before Fermanagh Magistrates Court, via videolink, on Monday, June 26.

As the defendant was led out of the dock, she hurled verbal abuse towards the policewoman who had objected to bail.