Activist Stephen Bedford this week asked to be allowed stand trial before a jury on the charges he faces after he live streamed his vehicle driving at group of people protesting against the government’s immigration policy on North Strand in Dublin in February of this year.
One person was hospitalised after being “carried” on the bonnet of Bedford’s vehicle.
Bedford filmed all of this on his live-stream, and while he claimed to have been threatened, Gardaí informed the court that Bedford could have used several other routes to leave the area, and that there was no record of the death threats he claimed to have received.
Bedford apparently has secured employment which requires him to leave the country for several months, and has requested an expedited trial before a jury.
The court was also informed that Bedford may be facing further charges.
As widely reported in the media, Stephen Bedford remains on bail. The conditions of that bail include a requirement to sign on three days a week at a garda station, and not to drive any motor vehicles.
Bedford was also ordered not to attend demonstrations involving anti-immigration protests.
He has been seen and photographed at the controversial so-called “tented city” at Sandwith Street in Dublin city centre.
Bedford has also been seen and occasionally filmed wandering the streets and delivering impromptu speeches on public transport and elsewhere outlining what a Garda described in court yesterday as his “strong political and moral beliefs.”
Bedford, who now resides in a hostel at Usher’s Island was sent to prison in 2015 in connection with his involvement in a squat run at Grangegorman by far-left activists.