A MAN accused of killing a child has been refused bail addresses by more than a dozen landlords, a court heard yesterday.
Details emerged during a failed bail application by alleged killer 31-year-old Sharyar Ali at Armagh Magistrates Court, sitting in Lisburn.
A defence lawyer revealed a brother of Ali has been trying to obtain a bail address in the Bangor and Belfast areas but that in each case, when the “15 to 20 landlords” were told who would be living there, they refused to let their properties.
Ali, a Pakistani national with an address at Westerna Terrace in Monaghan, is in custody accused of the murder of 11-month-old Hunter Patrick McGleenon on November 26 last year.
The little boy died as a result of injuries to his head and abdomen and while it is the Crown case they were non-accidental injuries, the defence contend they were inflicted accidentally with Ali telling police the infant had fallen off a low sofa and struck his head on a concrete floor and further claiming that he had performed CPR and had given Hunter a cold shower to “revive him.”
It is potential delays in the case which formed the basis for defence submissions that Ali should be granted bail with the proposition that he could reside with his wife at a property in Manchester with his brother Irfan Ali lodging £25,000 with the court as surety.
Describing Irfan Ali as a “successful business man...a man of means,” the lawyer said efforts to find a bail address in the north had failed, hence why there was a proposed address in Manchester.
Prosecuting counsel told the court however that neither the proposed bail address nor the surety were appropriate, revealing that in addition to Irfan Ali having six convictions for assisting unlawful immigration into Northern Ireland “the Home Office are investigating the circumstances” of his marriage to decide whether or not it was a sham.
She also revealed there have been allegations that Ali “used a proxy to sit a language test” and further that he used fake papers in his immigration application.
Submitting that Ali is at “an inherent risk of flight,” the lawyer argued that given the nature of the offence Ali is facing, the proposed Manchester bail address was “highly inappropriate” .
Addressing the potential delay point the court heard the Public Prosecution Service “decision is expected” in mid July as the directing officer will form their opinion on medical reports already received along with preliminary findings from the paediatric pathologist.
District Judge Amanda Henderson said it was clear that “in the last couple of weeks there appears to have been significant movement in the case so on that basis, I don’t feel there’s been a sufficient change of circumstances to admit him to bail for such a serious offence.”
Ali, who appeared in court via videolink, was remanded back into custody to appear again on July 7.
