A Carndonagh man who
allegedly held a steak knife to his pregnant wife's
throat was refused bail yesterday at Buncrana
District Court.
John McCole, Tullyarb, Carn, appeared before Judge
Desmond Zaidan on crutches.
The judge was told the defendant had suffered an
injury while in custody and was now "considerably
disabled".
During a lengthy bail hearing, Garda Inspector Donal
Sweeney said he was opposed to bail on the grounds
that the alleged injured party was fearful of the
defendant.
Julie McCole, who is seven-and-a-half months
pregnant, took the witness stand at the request of
the prosecution. Speaking with an American accent,
she said she feared for herself and her five
children. She said her husband had left messages on
her phone when he was in Garda custody and had also
made contact with her while he was in custody at
Castlerea Prison, Co. Roscommon. She told the court,
he told her she "better see (Garda) Anthony Burke
and tell him to drop the charges".
Defence solicitor Frank Dorrian said the alleged
injured party, who had now moved from the family
rented home at Tullyarb to other rented
accommodation, had recourse to a barring order. He
said bail was routinely granted by the courts for a
whole raft of serious charges. But Judge Zaidan took
a different view. He refused bail and he refused
jurisdiction to hear the case, on the grounds that
the charges were "too serious" to be dealt with in
the district court. He remanded the accused in
custody until June 28th, 2007, for service of the
book of evidence and to be sent forward for trial. |
