A man has appeared before Derry Magistrate’s Court today charged in connection with an incident where police discharged a plastic bullet in order to subdue a man.
31-year-old John Sweeney of Argyle Terrace, Derry appeared to face a total of 13 charges relating to the incident on August, 9th.
He was charged with three counts of assault, three counts of unlawful detention, three counts of threats to kill, possession of an offensive weapon, non-fatal strangulation and criminal damage to a mobile phone.
The court heard that police attended the address after the alleged injured party reported that her former partner had assaulted her.
She said that she had been at the address and Sweeney kept ‘pushing and nudging’ her. She claimed that she tried to leave and Sweeney blocked the door, causing her to feel ‘trapped’.
The court heard that Sweeney was supposed to have self-harmed and threatened to kill her.
The woman left but returned out of concern for the defendant and claimed Sweeney slapped her across the face and threatened to kill her.
Defence counsel Sinead Rogan said that her client was only on bail for a short period. She said the alleged injured party had attended Sweeney’s address and he had not sought her out.
The barrister said that the woman had her own issues.
Deputy District Judge Sean O’Hare said that Sweeney had been given a chance when released on bail a week prior but had since ‘made several wrong choices’. He refused bail and remanded the defendant into custody to appear again on September 3rd.
