A CO Down man appeared in court yesterday accused of a brutal assault on a Catholic man in Kilkeel.
Standing in the dock of Newry Magistrates Court, 34-year-old Gary Chambers was charged with four offences arising from an attack on well-known contractor Paschal Morgan on July 14 this year.
Chambers, from Sabbath Hill, Ballymartin, Newry, is charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent, robbing his wallet which contained £150 and €450, using disorderly behaviour in the Kilmorey Arms Hotel in Kilkeel and attempting to cause criminal damage to gates and doors of the hotel.
None of the facts surrounding the charges were opened in court yesterday but giving evidence, a police constable said he believed he could connect Chambers to them.
It was reported at the time that Mr Morgan, a a 48-year-old father-of-two, was attacked on the Greencastle Road as he walked home and was left with bruising to the front of his brain, shattered eye sockets and cheekbones and a suspected broken jaw.
In court yesterday defence solicitor Darren Duncan told District Judge Eamonn King he was consenting to the prosecution seeking a six week adjournment.
Freeing Chambers on his own bail of £250, Judge King told the defendant it was important that he understood the “whole pile” of bail conditions as any breach “could result in you being held in custody until the matter is dealt with.”
Due back to court on November 27 Chambers must reside at his home address, observe a curfew, not to consume or have alcohol or be on licensed premises, is barred from contacting his alleged victim or any witnesses and is prohibited from entering Kilkeel, save for a few hours in a Sunday when he can visit his grandparents but he must be accompanied by his mother “at all times.”
- A caption on a photograph taken outside court of a man charged with an assault in Kilkeel, Co Down on July 14 should have made clear that the accused, Gary Chambers, was in the rear.
