Here is your round-up of cases heard before courts around Northern Ireland from May 4-8
Cases before Northern Ireland courts this past week included a retired Baptist pastor who was convicted of conducting an illegal abortion protest inside the limits of a 'safe access zone' outside Causeway Hospital.
Elsewhere, the High Court ruled an award of £300,000 in damages for a Co Antrim couple who sued over abusive comments on controversial gossip website Tattle Life is to be set aside. The courts also heard the case of a 47-year-old man who was charged with attempted murder over an attempted car bomb attack on Lurgan police station. Here is your latest round up of cases before the courts between Monday, May 4 and Friday, May 8.
On Monday, a special court sitting heard that an incident of domestic abuse in which a woman was dragged to the floor and kicked to the face was filmed and sent to her son. Brandon Gillen from Creamery Close, Enniskillen is charged with assaulting a woman causing actual and engaging in threatening or abusive behaviour, both of which are aggravated by domestic abuse.
A police officer aware of the facts of the case told Dungannon Magistrates' Court the charges could be connected. An asylum seeker allegedly advanced towards a PSNI officer with a knife before shouting the Islamic proclamation “Allahu Akbar”, a court heard on Monday. The officer was forced to draw his gun when Libyan national Hamza Banali, 24, confronted him in the Holyland area of south Belfast at the weekend, a judge was told.
Banali, of address at Farnham Street in the city, denies any religious or hate motivation behind an incident linked to reports of cars being damaged in the area. An award of £300,000 in damages for a Co Antrim couple who sued over abusive comments on controversial gossip website Tattle Life is to be set aside, a High Court judge ruled on Tuesday.
Mr Justice Humphreys identified failures to properly serve a writ in the case entrepreneurs Neil and Donna Sands took against the site’s founder Sebastian Bond. An order freezing £1.8m in his worldwide assets has also been lifted.
“I find that the plaintiffs have failed to establish that Mr Bond knew of these proceedings,” the judge held. Lord Dunleath was handed three penalty points and a £100 fine on Tuesday after the peer was convicted of speeding at the international airport.
Despite claims by the 75-year-old that signage at Belfast International Airport was “pathetic” and that he has “no confidence” in the Department of Infrastructure who are “not fit for purpose,” District Judge Nigel Broderick said he was satisfied Lord Dunleath was guilty. During a half-hour contest at Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena , Lord Dunleath represented himself to contest the allegation that he was driving at excess speed on 31 May last year.
The court heard that just before 10.30am, a laser detection camera captured an Audi Q7 travelling at 38mph in the 30 zone. On Thursday, a coroner warned changes are needed to the protocol used to dispose of used surgical gloves in care homes with dementia patients.
It follows the death of 83-year-old Margaret Wilson, who passed away on August 10, 2022, after choking on used surgical gloves she removed from a lidded pedal bin found in a bathroom in Oakridge Care Home. Ms Wilson had a diagnosis of dementia and Alzheimer's disease and had been living in the care home in Ballynahinch since May 2022.
Delivering her findings at the end of an inquest into Ms Wilson's death at Belfast Laganside Court this week, the coroner said she will be writing to the Department of Health and RQIA, calling for changes to the protocol in how used gloves are disposed of. A retired Baptist pastor was convicted on Thursday of conducting an illegal abortion protest inside the limits of a “safe access zone.
” In convicting Clive Johnston on both charges against him, District Judge Peter King said the 77-year-old admitted himself that as well as delivering a sermon outside Causeway Hospital, his intention was to test the law.
“Mr. Johnston tested the law, to the point where he broke the law,” the judge ruled. During his 45-minute judgement, District Judge King told Coleraine Magistrates Court : “He was within any safe access so he was doing an act, in this case preaching the gospel, intending that any person hearing it would be influenced whether directly or indirectly.
” A Belfast man who knocked his ex-partner down stairs by punching her in the back of the head has been jailed for eight months. Jeremy Marshall, 44, launched an attack which resulted in the woman falling and injuring her hip. He also punched her repeatedly in the face during a separate episode of the abusive relationship, a judge was told.
Marshall, of Clarawood Park in the city, pleaded guilty to charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault in court on Thursday. A Co Longford man allegedly imprisoned and kicked his fiancée about the head after a row flared in a Belfast city centre hotel room, a court heard on Thursday. Paul Kelly, 32, is also accused of “raining punches” down on her before other guests at the Ibis Hotel intervened.
The woman stated at the time that she thought he would kill her, a judge was told. Details emerged as Kelly, of no fixed abode, mounted a renewed bid to be released on bail. He is currently in custody facing disputed charges of attempted grievous bodily harm, false imprisonment and assault occasioning actual bodily harm on April 2 this year.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard police discovered the alleged victim at the hotel on Castle Street with obvious injuries to her face and head. The woman alleged she had been drinking with Kelly in their room when he became verbally aggressive and brought up past incidents. A 47-year-old man has appeared in court charged with attempted murder over an attempted car bomb attack on Lurgan PSNI station .
The New IRA claimed responsibility for the incident that saw a pizza delivery driver hijacked in Kilwilkie and forced to drive a pipe bomb to the station on the night of March 30. The device did not explode but was deemed to be viable, before being made safe and being tested for forensics. Barry Anthony Toman, with an address at Drumnamoe Avenue in Lurgan, appeared before the Craigavon Magistrates’ Court via videolink on Friday.
He was described as a “committed, violent terrorist” as the court was told his DNA could be found on five different parts of the bomb. For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
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