A man allegedly walked through a north Belfast neighbourhood carrying an axe after bingeing on up to 10 bottles of spirits, a court has heard.
Philip Irwin told police he has no memory of the incident at the weekend because he was so drunk.
The 45-year-old, of Beechfield Street in the city, appeared at Belfast Magistrates Court charged with possessing an offensive weapon in public.
Police were alerted after three men were spotted walking on the Cavehill Road shortly after 6am on Sunday.
“One of them was armed with an axe” a PSNI officer said.
CCTV checks identified Irwin as the man carrying the blade.
“During interviews he stated that he has very little recollection of the events as he was heavily intoxicated,” the constable added.
“He stated that he does not remember having a hatchet or where he would even have got it, but does not dispute that officers have identified him as having it from the CCTV.”
The axe has not been recovered and no suspected background motivation established for bringing it onto the streets.
A defence barrister stressed that Irwin was not involved in any violent or threatening behaviour during the drink-fuelled incident.
“On Saturday night he went to a supermarket with some friends and said they bought ten different litre bottles of spirits - a mixture of vodka, whiskey, brandy, whatever else - and they had been consuming alcohol quite heavily,” she told the court.
“He indicates that his memory is foggy from about 8 or 9pm onwards.”
Counsel added: “He says he has lost his phone and his wallet after a bit of a messy night.”
District Judge Austin Kennedy was informed that Irwin is due to undergo major surgery for a triple hernia.
Granting bail, Mr Kennedy ordered the accused not to have any other offensive weapons in public.
He told Irwin: “I don’t know the background to this, it will come to light in due course, and you may recall at some stage what happened.”