A WOMAN and two men who admitted their roles in an incident which led to a fellow party-goer being imprisoned naked in a sealed wheelie bin are to be sentenced next week.
Adam Robinson was 20 when he was found in a wheelie bin sealed with industrial tape in the Sentry Hill area of Ballymena, Co Antrim, following a four-day drink and drug fuelled party.
He was discovered by a dog walker at around 4pm on September 3 2013 in an incident described in court as "deeply traumatic" for him.
Teri Christopher Bernard Lau (28) from Dunclug Park in Ballymena, Roddy Patterson (28) from Glendun Drive in the Co Antrim town and Paula Wilson (22), from Main Street in Cullybackey, appeared before Belfast Crown Court yesterday.
Lau and Patterson each admitted assaulting Mr Robinson occasioning him actual bodily harm, and of false imprisonment.
Wilson - who was in a relationship with Lau at the time - admitted aiding and abetting false imprisonment.
The prosecution said the three defendants and Mr Robinson had been partying at Lau's house, and were all under the influence of drink and drugs.
Wilson's barrister claimed Mr Robinson made inappropriate sexual advances towards his client - but the prosecution did not accept this version of events.
The prosecution also rejected defence claims that Mr Robinson had taken off his own clothes to prove he did not have cannabis which had gone missing from the house, and had then put himself in the bin which was taken across the road to the park as a prank.
Crown prosecutor Terence Mooney told Judge Gordon Kerr that Mr Robinson was "deliberately put in the bin to degrade, humiliate or punish him for something that occurred at Lau's house at a party fuelled by drink and drugs".
Mr Robinson was unable to tell police why he was naked or in the bin, but claimed he had been assaulted by Lau, who also prevented him from getting out of the bin.
The victim was treated in hospital for three days and has since been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Mr Mooney said Lau and Patterson's fingerprints were found on the bin and the tape. Mr Robinson's clothes were found at Lau's house and CCTV evidence also showed Lau buying the tape used to seal the bin from a shop in Dunclug.
Defence barrister Greg Berry, representing Patterson, said it was a "prank gone wrong" and Patterson had expressed sorrow for what happened and has apologised.
Wilson's barrister Brian McCartney said Mr Robinson made several "inappropriate advances" before he assaulted her and said the bin "remained in common view". He added that Wilson has since shown remorse.
Martin O'Rourke QC, representing Lau, said his client had pleaded guilty to assault on the grounds that the "lumps and bumps caused to the injured party" were sustained "whilst he was detained in the wheelie bin."
He said Mr Robinson had got into the bin himself. But he added that Lau had failed to think about the consequences of his actions.
Judge Kerr remanded the trio back into custody and said he would pass sentence next Thursday.
