A 22-YEAR-OLD north Belfast man who sustained multiple injuries in a baseball bat and hatchet attack has described feeling "solid blows to my body, head, everywhere" as he lay on the ground.
The man was giving evidence at Belfast Crown Court on Thursday where four men are standing trial on offences in relation to the Tiger's Bay area assault on June 19, 2015.
The injured man, who has autism and ADHD, said he was attacked on Mervue Street by several men wielding weapons.
Visibly upset at times, he said the attack had left him traumatised.
He said he lost consciousness during the beating, which left him with a fractured kneecap, a broken arm, lacerations to his head which required 29 stitches and 11 staples, and an eye injury which also required stitches.
He also said he was "100%" about the identity of his attackers and named the four defendants - all of whom are originally from or have links to the Tiger's Bay area.
The accused are 23-year old Benjamin Mark Hagan from Moss Road in Lambeg, 37-year old Alan George James McIlwaine from Roscor Square in Newtownabbey, David John Nixon (28) from Blenheim Drive in Newtownards, and also a youth who cannot be named due to his age.
All four have been charged with - and deny - causing the injured man grievous bodily harm with intent.
They have also been charged with possessing an offensive weapon. In Hagan's case, the weapon is a hatchet, whilst the remaining three accused have been charged with possessing a baseball bat. All four defendants also denied this charge.
As he was giving evidence, the north Belfast man broke down on several occasions as he recalled the attack, and at one stage gestured at the dock and said "it isn't easy sitting in front of people who tried to kill you."
He said that after attending a band parade on the Shankill Road, he and four friends walked back to Tiger's Bay. He said that as they walked along Mervue Street at around 10.45pm, he heard a car behind him speeding up then slowing down.
The man said he "hesitated", then saw a black car driven by Hagan with the youth in the front seat. Telling the jury he also saw Nixon and McIlwaine, the man said he was "confronted" and was initially struck on the arm with a baseball bat wielded by the youth.
He said he "fell immediately", then McIlwaine "booted me in the face." He also said he saw Hagan wielding a hatchet.
He said he felt the attack "went on forever", that he "blacked out" when he saw the hatchet and that he couldn't remember being in the ambulance but recalls regaining consciousness in the Royal Victoria Hospital.
The jury heard that when the four accused were arrested, all but McIlwaine refused to answer police questions.
Denying involvement, McIlwaine said he was at his mother's Mervue Street house at the time of the offences but had nothing to do with the assault.
