Man accused of Scott Vineer attack in court

Ryan Craig, 19, from Ashmount Gardens in Lisburn, appeared in Lisburn Magistrates Court on Monday (September 8) via videolink.

Craig, who is in custody on other charges, has been charged with the attempted murder of Scott Vineer, who was beaten and abandoned beside an empty furniture showroom at Laganbank Road in Lisburn in September 2012.

Scott, who suffers from autism, was only 17 when he was assaulted on his way home from the South Eastern Regional College in September 2012.

He was beaten about the head and left unconscious behind a showroom of an old furniture store at the Laganbank Road.

Little is known as to what happened after he left college until the time he was found.

A day after he went missing a police dog handler found him lying unconscious at the rear of a disused furniture showroom on Laganbank Road late on Friday September 7, 2012.

Mr. Vineer, described as a ‘gentle giant’ was viciously attacked and left for dead and remained for many months critically ill in hospital.

He was a student at the South Eastern Regional College in Lisburn and attended a job club, run by the learning disability charity, Mencap.

His mother raised the alarm at 10pm on September 6 after he failed to return home from college.

He remained in hospital for six months three of which he remained in a coma and then confined to a wheelchair.

It was March 2013 when he returned to his Lisburn home and was greeted by family and friends.

District Judge Rosie Watters adjourned the case for two weeks until Monday September 22, when the defendant will reappear before the court, once again via videolink.