Two men have appeared in court after a serious assault left a man in hospital with a bleed on the brain.
Lee Donnelly (22) from Millview Meadow and John McShane (26) from Knockmoy Park, both in Coalisland, are jointly charged with unlawfully and maliciously causing grievous bodily harm to the victim on 15 May.
A detective constable told Dungannon Magistrates Court on Monday that the charges could be connected.
He explained police received a phone call from Donnelly’s father who had observed his son and McShane “washing blood off their hands” then admit they had assaulted the victim.
Officers attended an address in Coalisland and were met by both defendants who initially refused them entry.
Eventually getting in, officers found the victim “lying on a bedroom floor, lapsing in and out of consciousness, with injuries to his face and legs”.
He was able to state he had been assaulted the previous night. He was taken to hospital.
Meanwhile, police found blood in different areas throughout the bedroom and the victim’s mobile phone showed eight attempts to dial 999 over a 35 minute period.
McShane claimed to have been at the property the previous night, leaving around 2am, returning with Donnelly at 11am when they found the victim lying on the bedroom floor.
He told police he put the victim back into bed.
Donnelly, however, denied being at the property with McShane and confirmed no attempt was made to contact police or ambulance.
Police said medical staff said the victim had sustained a bleed on the brain. His condition deteriorated and he was sedated.
Both Donnelly and McShane were arrested, neither made any comment during interview.
McShane would not permit images to be taken of injuries to his hands.
Donnelly’s father was spoken to again and claimed to have seen McShane “being a bit rough” with the victim.
He claimed to have overheard a conversation between McShane and Donnelly in which they discussed how they “beat up the victim”.
He told them to leave and he would be ringing police.
Objecting to bail the detective said McShane is currently on bail for allegedly assaulting the victim on 7 May.
Under defence cross-examination the detective confirmed Donnelly’s father has refused to provide a statement and claims to be in fear of McShane.
When the defence contended this severely weakened the case District Judge Peter Magill responded: “Police are informed of something going on. They go to the address. The defendants are there and try to prevent police from entering and when they eventually allow them in, there is the victim in a very bad state, having clearly suffered substantial injuries.
“One man says he was there the night before and found the victim the next morning but made no attempt to contact the ambulance service or police.
“The other man says he wasn’t there at all. These are all telling points against the defendants.”
The pair were refused bail and remanded in custody to appear by video-link on 19 June.