Man stabbed and burned with boiling water while held hostage, court is told

A MAN allegedly held hostage in his Co Down home was bound, beaten, burned and stabbed, a court has heard.

The details emerged as Danielle Broom appeared at Downpatrick Magistrates Court accused of causing actual bodily harm, false imprisonment and theft of the complainant’s clothing.

The court heard claims that before he was attacked, the victim had posted on social media that Broom “is not a nice person” and while her partner allegedly stabbed and poured boiling water over him, she scrolled through his mobile phone, demanding: ”Do you like me now, do you f ****** like me now?”

Appearing in the dock wearing a grey, police-issue tracksuit, Broom, from Portallo Street in Belfast, confirmed she understood the three charges against her. All are alleged to have been committed on March 20.

District Judge Amanda Brady heard that her partner is still being sought by police.

During a contested bail application, a detective outlined how some people had been socialising at the victim’s home in Comber when he was asked if Broom and her partner, a man named as David Smith, could attend.

“The injured party was in good spirits and said that was fine,” said the officer, adding that a few hours later, Broom and Smith arrived at the door.

According to the victim he answered the door and Broom was wearing a black snood with a skeleton logo. When he asked why she had that, “she started hitting him to the face”.

He fled but Smith and Broom chased him and brought him back to the property where he was bound with black cabling wire which Broom produced.

“He was tied up and put to the floor and further assaulted by both parties,” the detective said.

At some stage he was untied and Broom took his mobile but while she scrolled through it “her partner David Smith got a knife and put it into his mouth and started to stab his right leg, got a kettle of boiling water that he poured over him... and while this was going on the defendant was scrolling though his phone shouting ‘do you like me now, do you f ****** like me now?’”

According to the victim he was punched and sliced to his face and he was struck over the head with an empty bottle of Buckfast.

“On leaving they told him not to contact the emergency services or the police or they would harm his mother and grandmother who they were able to name personally and they told him that if the matter was reported ‘tell them he hurt himself on a spiked fence’,” she told the court.

His relatives visited him the following day and found him lying injured in his home.

A formal statement has not yet been recorded but the victim was able to name Broom as one of his alleged assailants. The court heard she was arrested at Connswater Shopping Centre in east Belfast on Saturday.

Defence counsel Steven Molloy said while “she didn’t give her version of events to the police” his instructions were that “she had no knowledge of this and denies being the instigator at all”.

The judge said she was concerned that the co-accused Smith “is still at large so while that is the situation I think this bail application is premature”.

Broom was remanded into custody to appear on April 3.