The celebrity chef, Mr Conrad Gallagher, was refused bail in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday and remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison.
Mr Gallagher (32) returned from the United States yesterday morning to face court proceedings relating to the alleged theft of three paintings from his former restaurant, Peacock Alley, in Dublin's Fitzwilliam Hotel.
Wearing a crumpled white Tshirt and beige sweatpants, the handcuffed chef looked pale and thinner than usual as he made his way into court.
Mr Gallagher had failed to turn up at his trial on October 15th, 2002, after notifying the court he would be pleading not guilty. A warrant was issued for his arrest in November, allowing the prosecution to seek an extradition warrant.
He was arrested outside his Manhattan bar, Traffic, last month and held on an extradition warrant at the Metropolitan Detention Centre.
Det Garda Angela Twyford told the court she accompanied Mr Gallagher from New York and arrested him when he arrived at Dublin airport at 5.36 a.m. He was arrested on foot of four warrants issued by the court.
Mr Gallagher's solicitor, Mr Carl Haughton, pointed out that his client had waived his right to fight the extradition. He said Mr Gallagher "sincerely apologised" to the court for his failure to appear at his trial last October.
His client had got married in September and had set up a business in New York, Mr Haughton said. Mr Gallagher had not returned because he had feared it would jeopardise his application for US citizenship. He was "unsuccessfully caught between a rock and a hard place," Mr Haughton said, as he was in custody in New York for the past five weeks and and was unable to deal with the charges.
Mr Haughton asked that Mr Gallagher be granted bail. He had returned home without his passport and any possessions and therefore could not leave the jurisdiction. There was no risk that he would go to Britain as he had particular difficulties there, Mr Haughton said. He also had a six-year-old daughter here.
The solicitor provided the court with an address for Mr Gallagher and said he would sign in daily, or twice daily at a local Garda station, if necessary.
Mr Haughton said Mr Gallagher had been receiving treatment for a recurrence of testicular cancer for the past nine months. He had received no medical treatment in the New York detention centre and was anxious to see his specialist in the Charlemont Clinic. The chef had been branded "a fugitive" in the media but this was not the case, his solicitor said. He had intended to return to face the charges but had hoped to have his citizenship application dealt with first. He had always maintained his innocence of these charges and continued to do so.
Mr Justice White refused bail. He remanded Mr Gallagher in custody to appear at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court next Tuesday when a trial date would be fixed.
