Derry woman charged with the attempted murder of her son

A 50-year-old Derry woman has been released on bail this afternoon after she was charged with attempting to murder her son at the weekend.
Teacher Treasa Doherty was charged with trying to kill her son Sean O’Connor after an incident in their Garden City home on Saturday night.
He is on a life-support machine in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where he is being treated for a serious head injury.
An investigating police officer told District Judge Barney McElholm that he was opposing bail in the case because he believed the defendant’s long standing alcohol addiction could result in her committing further offences.
However, in a bail application, Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley said his client had no previous convictions, and both he and the prosecution accept that what happened resulted from a fall-out between a mother and son, both of whom unfortunately have developed difficulties with alcohol.
Mr Quigley said a bail address at the defendant’s father’s Baronscourt home was available to the court and a family network has been put in place to assist his client.
He said she was also willing to seek medical assistance from her GP to deal with her long-standing alcoholism and was willing to reside if necessary in any inpatient treatment centre.
The district Judge released the defendant on her own bail of £500 together with a surety also of £500, with a number of conditions, including that she doesn’t drink alcohol, and submits to unannounced police breath tests.