Man threatened to stab a person as they walked near Steeple police base in Antrim town
A man had to flee after being threatened with being stabbed as he walked at a footpath beside the Steeple police training facility in Antrim town.
It was the afternoon of Wednesday June 3 this year. The man was allegedly approached by the defendant, who is charged with assault and possessing a knife and screwdriver as offensive weapons.
Kurtis Millar (31), of Corbally Avenue in Antrim, was in the dock at Ballymena Magistrates Court.
Objecting to bail, a police officer said at 2.50pm on Wednesday police received a report from a male that he was "walking at boundary footpath at Steeple Barracks" when he was approached by Millar who was "wearing a distinct orange coat".
Millar allegedly became verbally abusive. He was holding a screwdriver and said he would stab him.
As the defendant approached the man "from a distance of no more than ten metres", Millar allegedly produced a knife from his pocket whilst continuing towards the man whilst repeating the stab threat. The man fled the area in fear for his safety.
The defendant was arrested at his home address. When Millar's property was searched a screwdriver and knife were found and a coat matched the description of that given by the man.
When interviewed the defendant "declined to offer any account" of his whereabouts "answering no comment to all questions".
The officer said it was "a completely unprovoked attack in the middle of the day". She said the men had been "friends since childhood".
She said the complainant had phone "footage" showing the defendant "coming towards him". The court was told the defendant was on a suspended sentence for similar offending.
A defence barrister said there was "no history of animus" between the defendant and the man.
Millar has been given £500 bail to an address to be approved by police. He is not to be in Antrim town and is to have no contact with the complainant.
The case was adjourned to Antrim Magistrates Court sitting in Ballymena on June 23.
At a court in 2024 the defendant received a suspended jail sentence after a judge said the defendant "arrived at his ex-partner's house and re-enacts something out of 'The Shining'. She must have been absolutely petrified".
The judge had told the 2024 court: "He has got two knives and he is doused in petrol. He says he is coming in to kill her and then he smashes the window with a brick."
The judge said the defendant had been "caught red-handed" when he "was covered in petrol, half-naked, standing in a garden with a couple of knives".
The judge said the defendant had already spent time in custody and his sentencing was a "balancing exercise between punishment and protection of the injured party" and "my main concern is the protection of the injured party".
The judge had handed down an 18 months prison term, suspended for three years.
He said if he had given a custodial sentence the defendant had already spent time on remand and would walk out in a "few months time and there is going to be no protection for this young lady at all". A five year Restraining Order was also put in place at the 2024 court.