A father of one facing a murder charge told a friend that he thought he broke his foot attacking his victim, a court has been told.
Rhys Magee is accused of murdering 24-year old Richard Miskelly, who died in the driveway of a house in Newtownards in February this year.
Magee was granted bail by Mr Justice Colton, who said that as he had already accepted punching and kicking Mr Miskelly, "in due course it seems likely that he will have to answer for what he had done, and that will involve a significant period in custody."
Belfast Crown Court heard that Magee had consumed alcohol and Ketamine in the hours before the fatal attack. As well as being charged with murder, the 20-year old from Carrowdore Road in Newtownards, is also facing two counts of perverting the course of justice in the aftermath of the murder.
Details surrounding the murder, which occurred in the early hours of February 26, emerged as Magee made an application for bail. His defence barrister said that as Magee had made certain admissions to police, there was "no shortage of realism" about the case.
Defence barrister Andrew Moriarty said Magee was seeking bail as he wanted to see his grandparents and spend time with his young son as "realistically, it will be some time before he had a chance to spend Christmas with his son in the future."
Opposing bail, Crown barrister Laura Ivers revealed that despite initially claiming not to have attacked Mr Miskelly, Magee later told police he punched the deceased twice, and kicked him to the side of his head once.
He is also alleged to have told a friend at the scene that he thought he had broken his foot kicking Mr Miskelly.
Mr Miskelly, from Newtownards, died from a bleed on the brain caused by blunt force trauma to the head. He also had bruising and abrasions to the side of his neck, two fractures to the jaw which were possibly caused by a kick and other injuries to his face and body.
Prosecutor Laura Ivers said the fatal attack occurred in the driveway of a house after Mr Miskelly and his friend were asked to leave a party on February 25.
The court was told that Magee and a friend challenged Mr Miskelly and his friend about 5 minutes after they left the house.
While Magee's friend and Mr Miskelly's friend got into a struggle, Magee was seen to punch Mr Miskelly to the ground. Magee and his friend then began walking back to the house, but Magee is then alleged to have walked back to Mr Miskelly - who was at this point in a sitting position - then kicked him to the side of his head.
Magee's friend described the kick as a volley to the head, and it caused Mr Miskelly to fall back with his head hitting the ground.
An ambulance was called and Magee - whom the court heard "became emotional throughout the call" - then carried out chest compressions on Mr Miskelly for around ten minutes.
Magee initially claimed he had just arrived at the scene in a taxi and came across Mr Miskelly lying on the ground.
And when asked about his swollen knuckles, he said he had punched a wall outside the Mandela Hall - where he had been before arriving at the house - in a fit of anger.
During his fourth interview, Magee admitted punching Mr Miskelly twice and kicking him to the left side of his neck. He told police "I lost my temper and saw red."
Mr Justice Colton agreed to release Magee and imposed a number of conditions, including a ban on consuming drink and drugs, reporting to police five times a week, and being electronically tagged.
