Ballymena man (22) charged with causing grievous bodily harm to man and possessing 'piece of glass' as offensive weapon gets bail
A 22-year-old Ballymena man charged with causing grievous bodily harm to a man with intent and possessing a 'piece of glass' as an offensive weapon, has been granted bail.
He is alleged to have committed offences on Monday, May 25.
Sam McDowell, with an address listed on a charge sheet as Moat Road, appeared at Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena on Tuesday via video link from prison where he had been on remand.
At an earlier court a police officer said at 5am a man said windows were broken at a flat at Dunclug Park in Ballymena. Police found a man asleep in the flat. There was blood on a sofa where he was lying.
The officer said the man told police the accused had beaten him around the face and head with "hammer fists" and "cut his arm with glass".
The man had bruising to his face and head and he had a "deep laceration to his right arm". Police observed several windows which appeared to have been broken from the inside.
The man said the accused had used a piece of broken glass to cut him, the prosecutor outlined. Police could see what appeared to be blood on a piece of glass.
The man said he and McDowell had an argument "about money," the prosecutor continued.
When interviewed, the defendant said he had taken cocaine on the Saturday and had been drinking in the flat on the Sunday.
He said he was "not in good form after coming down from drugs" and and he then recalled "wrecking" the flat. The officer said the flat was in the defendant' name.
The defendant said the other man told him to stop damaging the flat and he had then packed a bag and had gone to a shop and then got a lift to his mum's home at Moat Road.
The officer said the defendant denied causing injuries to the man. McDowell denied there had been an argument. He said, when he left the flat, the man had not been injured. The defendant has 74 previous convictions.
At Tuesday's court, a police officer said the injured man has "refused" to make a statement, saying he "doesn't remember".
McDowell has been granted bail in the sum of £500 and the case is adjourned to July 7.