Man (53) charged with attempted murder after man found in pool of blood in kitchen has been granted bail
A 53-year-old man charged with attempted murder after a man was found in a pool of blood in a kitchen has been granted bail
Barry Heaney, with an address listed as Riverside in Antrim town, is charged in relation to Friday January 24 this year. He had been on remand in prison for several months.
On Tuesday (May 13), Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, was told the accused was bailed at the High Court in Belfast on Monday.
The alleged victim - a relative of the accused - suffered a broken nose, had to get 40 stitches to a head wound, and has been attending a brain injury unit.
The defendant was charged with attempted murder following a report of an assault in the Menin Road area of Antrim.
A prosecutor had told an earlier court the injured party was "in a medically-induced coma".
A later court was then told: "The injured party is currently being seen as an outpatient with the Regional Acquired Brain Injury Unit".
A court heard the defendant had a previously clear record.
A police officer told an earlier court that at 1.55pm on January 24 police received a report from a resident of Menin Road reporting that a neighbour had been assaulted, was unconscious and was bleeding from his head.
The defendant was at the scene. Ambulance staff found the injured man in a "critical condition with a serious head injury".
There was a large amount of blood in a kitchen which was a "chaotic" scene with a table upturned and broken kitchen chairs with blood on the legs.
There was a "pool" of blood under the injured man; a large amount of blood on his head and and there were blood spatters on the wall and ceiling.
The defendant was in an induced coma for a number of days and received 40 stitches to a head wound and had a broken nose.
Initially he was described as being in a "critical" condition but was released from hospital on March 16 and had "help" coming to his house to make him dinner and get him into bed.
The officer said a nurse from a brain injury unit said there is a "brain injury" as the defendant has "physical and cognitive difficulties". The officer said the defendant was "kept" at the scene by neighbours.
When interviewed the defendant said his electric had been off because of Storm Éowyn and he had called at his relative's home to get a phone charged.