Jake Bailey-Sloan: three charged with assaulting man who died after being wounded on a night out in Portadown

None of the defendants attended Craigavon Magistrates Court on Wednesday (January 8) where they were formally charged with the common assault of Jake Bailey-Sloan on October 17, 2021.

The three defendants are: Odhran Connolly, 22, from Churchill Park, Portadown; Ethan Robert Dougan, 25, Redrock Road, Collone, Armagh and Beth Vernon, 22, from Moyraverty Meadows in Moyraverty.

None of the alleged background facts were opened in court but it was reported at the time how 23-year-old Mr Bailey-Sloan, was injured at Mandeville Street early on Sunday, October 17 and although he was taken to hospital, he sadly passed away the following day.

The popular young businessman was well known in the area, having converted the disused Blackers Mill into a successful indoor combat games centre.

Appealing for information and witnesses to come forward in the aftermath of the tragedy, a senior police officer said what happened was an "awful thing" and he urged people to "search their souls".

“We need to find out the absolute truth about what has occurred," Det Ch Insp Darren McCartney said, “this is a young man who went out and no-one expected that to happen that night. He's come out on the street and he is now dead",

The case against the three defendants had been scheduled for a Preliminary Enquiry on Wednesday which would have seen the case elevated to the Crown Court but defence barristers asked for that to be adjourned.

Before any case can be sent to the Crown Court the prosecution must satisfy a judge there is a prima facie case and defence counsel David McKeown, acting for Connolly, indicated that he would be arguing there is no case to answer for his client.

The court did hear that in addition to more than 400 pages of statements and evidence, CCTV footage also forms part of the prosecution case.

Commenting that “there is a tragic background to this case,” District Judge Michael Ranaghan adjourned the case to January 22.