‘It blows my mind’: Anne-marie star-struck by The Voice
Man suffered multiple knife wounds in Dungannon incident, court hears
ANNE-MARIE has said appearing on The Voice UK has given her “imposter syndrome”.
The musician, who is a coach on the ITV singing competition, said she is star-struck by her co-stars and fellow singers Will.i.am, Sir Tom Jones and Olly Murs.
Series 10 of the programme is currently under way, with the blind auditions finishing last week.
Anne-marie said: “I love the show and it’s just so weird that I’m on it. It blows my mind! I’ve kind of got imposter syndrome, but it’s so cool.”
When asked if she feels starstruck by the other coaches, she said: “Yeah, I do. I think I’ve just been star-struck my whole life, whoever I’ve met, but I try and obviously be like, ‘Alright, Tom?’”
Anne-marie (29) said she is “determined to stop Olly getting a hat trick” of victories with singers he has coached on the programme. She said she is “so competitive”, adding: “So that’s obviously my goal of my whole entire life right now and I’m going to be dreaming about it and not being able to sleep at the same time.”
Anne-marie was announced as a coach on the singing competition last year, replacing Meghan Trainor. Will.i.am said Anne-marie has been “rocking it like she’s been there for a couple of seasons”.
A 29-year-old charged after an incident at an industrial estate during which a man was seriously injured and shots were fired has been returned to custody following a breach of bail.
Aidan Holbrook, from Mullaghmore Road in Dungannon, is charged with causing grievous bodily harm on November 12 and possessing a firearm and a knife.
At his first appearance before Dungannon Magistrates Court around a week after the incident in Granville, a detective explained initial reports suggested a man had been shot and subsequently crashed his car near Stangmore Roundabout.
Officers found him bleeding badly from multiple wounds, and while it transpired he had been repeatedly stabbed, gunshots were fired during the incident.
He tried to escape in his car but crashed.
The court heard all parties know each other and there had been a fall-out, in which insults were traded followed by an arrangement to meet in the secluded industrial estate.
The injured party thought it would be “a punch-up to sort out differences. Instead, he was set upon”.
Bail was refused on that occasion, but later granted by the High Court on strict terms including a ban on being in any private vehicle unless to attend with his solicitor.
However, Holbrook was brought before the most recent sitting of Strabane Magistrates Court after being found in the passenger seat of a car.
While that actually occurred on February 6, the officer did not know of the bail conditions, and it was only when a detective became aware that Holbrook was then arrested when he signed bail this week.
At the time he said he was travelling to the shops, also stating he had Covid symptoms, although he later admitted this was untrue.
Opposing re-release, an officer said: “There is an inability to adhere to bail conditions. We are fearful of witness interference. We received information last month that he offered money to obtain the addresses of the injured parties.”
It was also revealed Holbrook’s partner reported being intimidated by the injured parties, but this was found to be false.
The defence said the breach was accepted and both Holbrook and his partner insist they told police this at the scene, but a decision was made not to arrest.
“He accepts he shouldn’t have been in the car, but there was an incident on January 30. His partner was travelling alone and alleges the injured parties were in a car park, flashing their lights and blowing their horn to intimidate her,” the solicitor said.
“She drove away and dialled 999. This was reported to police for information purposes only. This whole situation is having an impact on her, and unfortunately my client took a stupid decision to travel with her.”
Conceding the charges are very serious, the defence stressed: “All is not exactly as it seems. There are questions over whether the injured parties come to court with clean hands. It has been suggested they are drug dealers.”
But in response the officer said: “The partner did make that report and claimed she was on her own. CCTV shows she had a front seat passenger, possibly the defendant.”
Deputy District Judge Austin Kennedy said, given the circumstances, that bail is revoked.
‘There is an inability to adhere to bail conditions. We are fearful there may be witness intimidation’
A police vehicle collided with a member of the public’s car in north Belfast on Wednesday night.
The incident occurred shortly before 9.25pm on the Crumlin Road. A PSNI Vauxhall Insignia car collided with a Volkswagen Polo while responding to an emergency incident in the area.
Pictures from the scene showed the police vehicle had suffered significant damage.
Extensive damage was also reported to a number of bollards and junction boxes in the area. There were no reports of any injuries. A PSNI spokesperson said: “Enquiries are under way to establish what occurred and anyone who witnessed the collision, or who may have captured it on their dash cam, is asked to call the non emergency number on 101, quoting reference number 2021 17/02/21.”
DAVID Mcelderry, who has died after an illness, was a greatly respected organ builder and church musician whose work was highly regarded throughout Great Britain and Ireland. He was 64.
Dr Joe Mckee, a local organist, musician and radio producer, was among those paying tribute to Mr Mcelderry.
“David will be a great loss to the Ulster Society of Organists and Choirmasters, which he supported selflessly, not least as president for two years from 2000 onwards,” he said.
“He was a gentlemanly and modest man. In a niche corner of the business world where bows and arrows are often used with almost reckless abandon, he let his workmanship and craft speak for themselves.
“He was at heart a thoroughly nice person and one whose motive in life was to help others who asked for his advice or support.”
Mr Mcelderry, the son of a GP, was born at Whitehouse in 1956, but instead of studying medicine like his father, he chose a career in organ building.
As a pupil at Campbell College, Belfast, his interest in the instrument was sparked by repairs being made to the organ in the school hall after water leaking from the roof damaged its pipework.
After leaving school, he became a management trainee with the Wells-kennedy Partnership in Lisburn, one of Northern Ireland’s most notable organ building companies of the past 50 years.
He rose steadily within the firm, becoming a partner in 1980. He became the managing director in 2007 after the death of Christopher Gordon Wells, his senior colleague and mentor.
Mr Mcelderry’s legacy will survive for many years. He and his company built many new organs and rebuilt numerous others in churches across Northern Ireland. His firm also carried out significant restorations and rebuilds at cathedrals in Newry, Armagh and Londonderry.
It also maintained the organs in Derry’s Guildhall, the Mulholland Grand Organ in the Ulster Hall and the organs at Queen’s and Ulster University.
One of Mr Mcelderry’s more recent projects was creating a virtually new organ for the Portico Arts Centre in Portaferry, opened by the Prince of Wales.
He was also involved in build
‘He let his craft speak for itself ’
ing and caring for very small house organs for local clients and in Edinburgh, where his business built two outstanding instruments for the Church of Scotland.
Mr Mcelderry was a talented male alto and a long-time member of the choir at St George’s Church in Belfast, which maintained a high level of organ and choir musicianship.
As a younger man, he was a member of the choir at Donegall Square Methodist Church in the city centre, which after its closure became the head office of Ulster Bank.
Dr Mckee said: “It was David’s interest in music, either in attending choral recitals or orchestral concerts in the Ulster Hall, that informed his vision when it came to creating musical instruments of true calibre. He will be greatly missed as a person and as an individual who possessed vast practical knowledge and irreplaceable manual skills.”
Mr Mcelderry never married, but he is survived by his sister, Norah.