Police given time to question man on threats to kill charge

At Monday’s sitting of North Antrim Magistrates’ Court, a police officer applied for time to question 46-year-old Alistair John Henry.

Henry, of no fixed abode, is currently in custody for breach of a non molestation order in relation to his wife Nicola.

Henry’s solicitor stated that Mrs Henry had invited his client to her home for Christmas. The solicitor also alleged that Mrs Henry had offered her address as his bail address.

Mr Henry’s counsel, barrister Francis Rafferty, did not agree with the police application.

He said that, despite the non molestation order being in place, Henry had taken up the offer from his wife to spend Christmas together.

Court heard that after a few days of the pair being together, police were called, and Henry was arrested for being in breach of the non molestation order.

Mr Rafferty told the court that a third party had since made a statement to police claiming that the defendant had made a threat to kill against her, and that was why the application to question Mr Henry was before the court.

He said that had the third party not have made the statement, his client would have been released. However, he said that he understood that police had to investigate the allegation.

The court was told that Mrs Henry had been in contact with an instructing solicitor, and had offered her address as a possible bail address for her husband.

“There is no doubt this would have lasted a few days, and then they’d fall out over something,” said Mr Rafferty. “Then we’d be going back over this rigmarole again. It is a torture for all of us,” said Mr Rafferty.

District Judge, Richard Wilson, said that he was aware of the ‘circumstances’ of the relationship between Henry and his wife, and added that their behaviour was “an abuse of the legal system and Legal Aid”.

Mr Wilson said that he had spoken to Mrs Henry several times in his chambers and admitted that he had told the pair that they should move to Australia, in a bid to stop the continuous court process.

Mr Rafferty claimed that Mrs Henry now had a series of orders against her most recent partner, and expressed concerns about her alleged ‘manipulation’ of the Court Service.

With some degree of reluctance, Mr Wilson granted police time to interview Henry.

The District Judge admitted that he was ‘browned off’ by the pair and their abuse of the justice system.

Mr Henry will appear before the court again later this week.