A woman “locked herself in the bathroom through fear” after her partner allegedly attacked her, a court heard on Thursday.
Lisburn Magistrates’ Court also heard that during the alleged incident in the early hours of St. Patrick’s Day, 30-year-old Kevin Barry Grimley “dragged her by the hair from the sofa and stamped repeatedly on her head, kicked her in the face, head and body, put his hands around her throat and squeezed to the point that she was struggling to breathe, slamming the back of her head against the wall.”
Appearing at court by videolink from police custody Grimley, of no fixed abode, was charged with attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm with intent, false imprisonment and causing criminal damage to a plate.
Giving evidence to the court a police officer described how the complainant made a “whispered” call to the police at 4.40am to report that Grimley had attacked her, adding that when officers arrived, they noted “injuries consistent with her account.”
An “intoxicated” Grimley was arrested but denied any wrongdoing during police interviews.
Objecting to bail, the officer told the court the complainant had been deemed as “a high risk domestic violence victim” and police feared that if freed, Grimley would “put pressure” on her to withdraw her evidence or would commit further offences.
Defence solicitor James Lannon argued that with a proposed bail address “a significant distance away” from the alleged victims home in Armagh, Grimley could be freed on bail but with “stringent conditions” to assuage police concerns.
Describing the incident as “awful,” District Judge Rosie Watters disagreed and refused to grant bail due to the risk of witness interference and further offences.
Grimley was remanded into custody and the case adjourned to April 13.
