A man who is accused of assaulting his wife, before threatening to kill both she and her mother, has been remanded in custody.
Court heard the 32-year-old claimed during interview that he had said he would “punish” his wife by putting her and her mother out of the house.
Simeon Angelov Borisov, of Callanbridge Park in Armagh, appeared charged with three counts of common assault and threats to kill at the city’s Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Newry, on Tuesday.
Appearing via videolink from police custody, the defendant confirmed that he understood the charges and was connected to the same by a constable.
Defence solicitor Lauren Fegan made no question to the connection and informed the court that an opposed bail application was being made on behalf of her client.
The constable outlined that on December 12, at 11.15pm, police received a report of a domestic incident at an address in Callanbridge Park in Armagh.
Officers spoke with the alleged injured party, and she claimed that the defendant, her husband, had earlier that day grabbed her in the kitchen before punching her to the stomach and groin.
She stated that both of her children, aged nine and seven, had been present at the time of the alleged assault.
Then at 8pm, the alleged injured party was lying in bed with her daughter when she claimed Borisov had come in, grabbed her by the neck and started to strangle her.
The defendant is alleged to have punched his wife to the ribs and to have grabbed the arm of his daughter, to prevent she and her mother leaving.
Police observed bruising to the right eye of the alleged injured party, and Borisov was located at the rear of the property where he was arrested and replied to caution: “I don’t understand.”
At this point, the defendant is alleged to have shouted in his native language that he would kill his wife and her mother.
When interviewed, Borisov denied the allegations. He claimed that during the day he had been in the kitchen with friends and when his wife did not answer a request to make a salad he had shouted at her “are you deaf?”
Then later, he and his wife had an argument regarding her parents living with them but he denied putting hands on her.
Addressing the alleged threats, the defendant claimed he had stated he would “punish” them, by which he meant he would put his wife and her family out of the home.
Ms Fegan stated that Borisov had engaged with police during interview in what is an “ongoing investigation”.
She informed the court that her client had two possible bail addresses, both of which are outside the Armagh area.
The solicitor also stated that the defendant was entering pleas to offences of driving whilst disqualified and using a vehicle without insurance which were also before the court.
District Judge Bernie Kelly stated: “Bail is a court order, driving whilst disqualified is also a court order and he didn’t obey that….because he needed to drive to go to work.
“I do not consider him a suitable candidate for bail….this is to keep the injured party safe and prevent further offending.”
Bail was refused and the case was adjourned until January 4.
Outlining the facts in the driving matters, prosecution stated that on January 23, police on patrol in Armagh stopped the defendant driving a BMW.
Subsequent checks showed that he had been disqualified for six months on October 13 and he made full admissions during interview.
Ms Fegan stated that her client had “held his hands up” to the offences and apologised to the court.
District Judge Kelly commented: “Mr Borisov, you have a particularly poor record for motoring matters and you never appear to have held a driving licence.”
The defendant was sentenced to two months in prison and was disqualified from driving for 12 months.
Ms Fegan made it known that her client wished to appeal the sentence and bail was fixed for this to be done.
