A BLOODSTAINED hatchet and metal pole were found close to the scene of a violent altercation in the Tiger's Bay area of Belfast, a jury has heard.
Two men are standing trial on a charge of unlawfully and maliciously causing grievous bodily harm to a 36-year old north Belfast man with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.
The accused - Piaras Samuel Devenney (27) from Rosemount Gardens in Belfast and 28-year old James Sean William Paul Edwards from Ashfield Drive in Donaghadee - have denied the offence, which the Crown says occurred in the Glenrosa Link area on June 24 last year.
Opening the Crown case at Belfast Crown Court, prosecuting barrister Mark Farrell said at around 10pm, the complainant walked past a woman's house on Glenrosa Street.
Mr Farrell said he knew Edwards and went into the house as there was "some sort of social gathering taking place".
Edwards was with a second male who the complainant did not know - and who the Crown says was Devenney - and that at some point a heated verbal argument broke out.
The jury was told that the complainant left the house and was walking along Glenrosa Link when he noticed Edwards and Devenney. He has made the case that Edwards had a claw hammer in his hand, that Devenney was also holding an object and that he was attacked by Edwards who struck him several times.
Mr Farrell said the complainant "tried to defend himself from Edwards who was attacking him from the front, and that he was also being attacked by Devenney from behind". Saying it was the Crown's case that the complainant felt kicks and a punch to the back of the head, the prosecutor said he claimed he also heard Edwards saying "let's do this right, let's kill the guy".
At this point, Mr Farrell said, the complainant "felt a blow to the back of the head, and passed out". He woke up in hospital later, while police attended the scene at around 1.30am.
The 36-year old was treated for mild swelling of the brain, two fractured fingers and other cuts and bruises.
In the aftermath, the injured man said Edwards was the main aggressor, and that Devenney - who he was unsure used a weapon - attacked him from behind.
Mr Farrell said that when the scene was examined, investigators recovered a hatchet, claw hammer and a metal pole. Both items underwent forensic examination, with the complainant's blood found on the shaft of the hatchet and the pole.
Both Edwards and Devenney were arrested.
Edwards made the case an argument broke out between himself and the complainant, that the complainant left the house but returned with a hammer and hatchet and that the occupant gave him and Devenney metal poles. Edwards accepted he hit the other man with a pole - but claimed it was in self defence.
While Devenney initially gave a no comment response during interview, he accepted he was with Edwards, who had a row with the complainant in the house. He denied causing any injury, but did claim the complainant armed himself with a hatchet. Devenney also accepted he hit the complainant with a pole, and also claimed it was in self defence.
At hearing
