Northern Ireland

Man 'who tried to smother his father' to stand trial for attempted murder

A BELFAST man is to go on trial for attempting to murder his father.

Standing in the dock of Downpatrick Crown Court, 67-year-old James Anderson Weir entered a not guilty plea to the single count against him.

Weir, from Manor Street, is accused of attempting to murder his father James Weir Snr on November 24 last year.

Nothing of the facts were opened yesterday during Weir’s brief appearance but an earlier court heard how staff at Blair House Care Home in Newtownards, Co Down, where his father was a resident, contacted police after they saw Weir holding a pillow above his father’s face, believing he was trying to “suffocate” him.

Mr Weir snr was examined by a doctor and taken to hospital while his son, who was intoxicated at the time, was arrested.

Applying for Weir to be freed on continuing bail, defence counsel Conan Rea revealed yesterday that Mr Weir snr has sadly passed away since the incident so the defendant had no cause to be going back to the care home.

Freeing Weir on bail, Judge Geoffrey Millar QC listed the trial for November 18, adding that he would review the case on September 20.