Shopping centre alleged assault victim has “lost the sight” in eye, court told

The victim of an alleged shopping centre assault has “lost the sight” in an eye due to the incident, a court heard on Friday.

The claim was made as Ebony Hughes, from Ardcarn park in Newry, appeared at Lisburn Magistrates Court in the wake of an alleged attack in Newry’s Buttercrane Centre.

A PSNI officer told the court both the accused and alleged injured party “have history” and there has been an “ongoing feud” going back more than 20 years.

A detective told Lisburn Magistrates Court that while the police are constrained about what they can disclose to the court as much of their information is “sensitive” and has been obtained “as a result of intelligence, we know that they know each other and we believe there is an ongoing feud between these two men”.

Appearing at court by videolink from police custody, 38-year-old Hughes was charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on July 9 this year.

While Hughes confirmed he understood the single charge against him, Det. Const. Kirkwood told the court he believed he could connect Hughes to the offence, adding that police were objecting to bail due to fears that Hughes would abscond, interfere with witnesses or commit further offences.

The officer outlined how the complainant contacted police on July 10 to report that he had been the victim of an assault in the Buttercrane Shopping Centre the previous day. The court heard that while the alleged feud between Hughes and his alleged victim has been ongoing since 2002, the fight itself lasted just 27 seconds and was captured on CCTV.

DC Kirkwood told the court that according to a verbal account from the complainant, he was “attacked” by Hughes, suffered broken ribs and has “lost the sight of his right eye as a result of the fight”.

The officer described how “this occurred in Buttercrane shopping centre, in front of the injured party’s mother and nine-year-old child and members of the public and Mr Hughes did not hesitate in head butting the complainant”.

“At the end of the fight we can see Mr Hughes raising his right hand up to the alleged victim’s face and he immediately puts his hands to his face as if he has been injured,” said the officer, “we believe he has used his finger to place it in to the eye of the complainant”.

District Judge Rosie Watters asked if the men were “known to each other,” and the officer confirmed “they have history” but revealed that as a lot of information is intelligence based, “a lot of the information police hold cannot be disclosed to the court”.

Turning to bail objections the detective said police had concerns that Hughes would flee the country, further revealing that when he was being investigated for a serious assault two years ago he absconded to Australia. Conceding that in the end nothing came of that investigation, DC Kirkwood maintained that police believe Hughes “has at least one other passport” and also has links to Dundalk.

He emphasised that as Hughes has a previous conviction for witness intimidation, police were concerned “there is a likelihood to interfere with the victim or witnesses”.

Hughes’ defence lawyer conceded there had been a fight which was captured on CCTV but he argued that footage had also caught the alleged victim’s mother using an umbrella during the altercation.

Revealing that the complainant himself had an existing eye injury from a shotgun pellet six months beforehand, the lawyer suggested it was a possibility the umbrella could have caused the further injury to his eye.

Describing it as a “chance meeting” between the two men, the lawyer argued that bail conditions could be put in place which would allow Hughes out on bail and to carry on with his work with a local building firm but still keeping the men apart.

He told the court Hughes himself denies there is any feud and emphasised that Hughes’ mother had attended court with her a cash surety of £10,000 “and his only passport”.

“These are two grown men who come to blows in a shopping centre,” said the solicitor, “it’s a chance meeting and there is nothing to substantiuate GBH”.

DJ Watters said while the lawyer had “said everything that could be said, I’m concerned about further offences and witness interference” so she was refusing bail. Remanding Hughes into custody, she adjourned the case to July 24.

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