A 28 YEAR-OLD west Belfast woman was refused bail as she appeared in court yesterday accused of trying to murder a mother and daughter.
Mother-of-three Kathleen Catriona McCann wept after the judge ruled against releasing her and told relatives to "look after my babies" as she was led away from the dock at Craigavon Magistrates Court.
McCann, from Cloona Manor in Dunmurry, is accused of attempting to murder Jacqueline May and her daughter Saoirse May and aggravated burglary at a house on Cloona Manor, inflicting grievous bodily harm and being armed with a knife at the time.
On Tuesday her 35-year-old brother William Philzer McCann, also from Cloona Manor, was granted bail on similar charges.
Police objected to her being released on bail amid fears that witnesses would be subject to intimidation.
An officer told the court that according to the police case, the daughter was subjected to verbal abuse by Ms McCann at the King's Head bar before she then allegedly attacked her.
The fight was broken up while Saoirse May called her mother - who is a taxi driver - to take her home but when the pair arrived back Mr McCann was already there and allegedly called his sister over, telling her to "come and kill her."
The officer claimed that outside the house, the brother and sister kicked Jacqueline May to the ground as she tried to stop the pair getting into her daughter's home without success.
Inside the home, the detective told the court, Ms McCann allegedly attacked Saoirse May again and she had described feeling "hot tingles on her head and body, wet on her face and realised she was bleeding."
"She would say she saw the point of a blade in Kathleen McCann's hand," said the officer adding that Saoirse May sustained a "number of puncture wounds" to her head, neck and shoulders but were largely superficial.
Her mother however sustained more serious injuries including five stab wounds, one of which caused a lung to collapse and she remains in hospital where doctors now suspect she has also suffered a broken shoulder.
DC McQuade said it was only when a third party intervened that Saoirse May was able to wrestle the knife from Ms McCann "and throw it away."
Arrested and interviewed, Ms McCann counter-claimed she she had been subjected to an unprovoked assault in the bar and that she only went to her neighbour's house when she saw her brother there and became involved in a fight.
She further claimed that Saoirse May had been armed with a knife and that having managed to get it from her, she was "flailing" it around in self defence and "in fear for her life," maintaining that if she stabbed anyone it was an "accident."
Refusing the bail application however and remanding Ms McCann into custody to appear again via videolink on Monday, District Judge Mervyn Bates said while it was clearly a case of joint enterprise between the brother and sister, "it is certainly alleged that this defendant was the knife wielder".
He added that although he granted bail to her brother, there were other factors relating to his case which influenced his decision including Mr McCann's mental capacity.
