A 42-year-old man who is alleged to have carried out a ‘violent assault on a drinking partner’ that left him with multiple fractures, has been refused bail at Derry Magistrates’ Court.
Mark Howie, of Sperrin Park in the Waterside area of Derry, is charged with inflicting GBH with intent and cultivating cannabis on April 2.
A bail application was made on behalf of the defendant who has been in custody since his arrest on April 3. A police officer appeared at Derry Magistrates’ Court to oppose bail, citing a risk of further offending.
She said Howie has seventy-two previous convictions, six of which are for common assault, two for ‘serious assaults’, and others for assaulting police. The defendant was said to have a drink problem and the alleged offence from April 2 took place when he had been drinking with his 60-year-old neighbour. When found at the scene the victim was said to have indicated that Howie committed the offence.
Outlining the case, the police officer said that an assault was reported and when the PSNI arrived the ambulance service was dealing with the injured party. The 60-year-old was said to be ‘alcohol dependant himself’ and a man who suffers from the respiratory condition, COPD, which requires him to use ‘sticks’ to get about.
Paramedics and police attended the scene and the injured party was ‘removed with great difficulty’, raising concerns that he had spinal injuries. The police officer told the court that the victim suffered ‘serious injuries’, including lacerations to his head, and multiple fractures - to his face, lower arm, finger and T4 vertebra in his back.
The forensics team believed that ‘one of his sticks was used in the assault’ and blood splatter specialists ‘suggested he was sitting on a chair when this happened’. When police attended the 42-year-old’s address ‘blood-soaked clothing’ was in his ‘washing machine’ which was later ‘found to be the injured party’s’, the police officer explained.
District Judge Peter King said it was ‘quite clear there is a significant risk of reoffending’. He said the defendant received fourteen months at Derry Crown Court in 2013 ‘for a lesser offence than this one’ and ‘has served the equivalent of that now’.
Bail was denied and the case taken to November 30 when Howie will appear by way of video link.
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