Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Flick stick victim has heart attack
Man denied bail over assault charges
A MAN allegedly beaten with a “flick stick” when intruders broke into his home has suffered a heart attack, a court heard yesterday.
Police claimed he was attacked with the weapon after trying to barricade himself in the flat in Burney’s Mews, Glengormley, outside North Belfast.
He suffered head lacerations and a broken wrist on Friday night and has also had a suspected heart attack in hospital.
Matthew Henderson, 33, of Ballyvesey Park, Newtownabbey, and 21-year-old Hannah Lee, from Ellis Street in Carrickfergus, are jointly charged with aggravated burglary inflicting grievous bodily harm and possessing cannabis.
Henderson faces further counts of burglary and causing grievous bodily harm linked to the same incident.
While the victim barricaded himself in, at least one intruder got through, took a flick stick the victim had for self-defence and used it to inflict “quite a beating”.
A detective said: “He managed to escape outside where he said [an assailant] continued to hit him.”
Eventually the man got to a neighbour’s and was taken to hospital. Lee, who is not suspected of carrying out the actual physical assault, was granted bail but ordered not to enter the Glengormley area.
Opposing her co-accused’s release, however, police claimed he was volatile and aggressive in custody.
A detective said the attack is being linked to an alleged incident between Lee and the complainant last summer.
The witness added: “She told Henderson of this on Friday, he decided he was going to go round and speak to the injured party and she came along.”
District Judge Mark Hamill denied bail and remanded him in custody.