VICTIM HAS A HOLE IN HEAD AFTER ‘GROSSLY VIOLENT’ DRILL ATTACK
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A WOMAN was left with a circular hole in her head following a “grossly violent” attack with a drill, a court heard yesterday.
Brenda Mclaughlin told officers she believed she was targeted on Saturday because she is homosexual and it is being treated as a hate crime.
The alleged male assailant, who is 17, cannot be named because of his age.
A PSNI detective told Omagh Magistrates Court the youth and the victim were at Ruby’s nightclub in Strabane, Co Tyrone, early on Saturday morning.
He said: “It is my understanding the victim has since told medical staff she heard the noise of the drill and felt her head being twisted.”
She is now in a high-dependency unit in Derry’s Altnagelvin Hospital. The detective added: “There does appear to be some sort of hole in the skull but I cannot say how severe it is.”
CCTV footage was taken at Ruby’s and outside on the street. It showed the accused in good spirits and playing with the drill “as if it is a gun”.
The detective said the teen was in possession of a drill 10 minutes before police found the victim.
Ms Mclaughlin’s condition was initially described as life-threatening but later downgraded.
Police have not established whether the injury was caused by blunt force or a drill bit and the court was told there was no evidence a drill bit was in place when the power tool was recovered or after security camera footage was checked.
The officer said no damage had been caused to her brain but there was some form of “circular” hole in her scalp. He added: “However, it does not appear to be deep.”
The detective told the court: “The victim said she believed it was in relation to her homosexuality.”
District judge Peter King described the incident as a “grossly violent, inexplicably violent incident”.
Adding there was a risk to public protection, he remanded the teen in custody to appear by video link at Strabane Magistrates Court on May 18.
He is accused of having an offensive weapon, a power drill, and of unlawfully and maliciously causing grievous bodily harm to Ms Mclaughlin or intending to do her grievous bodily harm. He is further accused of stealing a power drill belonging to the nightclub.
The court heard a nearby police patrol was alerted by members of the public that a woman was lying injured on the ground with blood coming from her head and lapsing in and out of consciousness.
She was also having fits and seizures.
The accused’s solicitor Ciaran Mcguinness said his client had told police he had homosexual relatives and did not bear any ill will.
After the hearing, the teenager hugged his mother in the public gallery.
OMAGH MAGISTRATES COURT
There does appear to be some sort of hole in the skull PSNI DETECTIVE