11 cases heard before Northern Ireland courts this week

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Here is your latest court round-up for cases heard from February 2-6

11 cases heard before Northern Ireland courts this week

1. On Monday at Newry Crown Court, the trial of former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and his wife on charges relating to alleged historical sexual offences was set for May. Jeffrey Donaldson, 63, has pleaded not guilty to 18 alleged offences.
2. A teenage boy was left with “gruesome” facial injuries after a martial arts instructor “snapped” and struck him with a crowbar, a court heard on Monday. Coleraine Magistrates Court also heard that although James Ernest Armstrong “snapped” over his home being repeatedly egged, the boy he struck had nothing to do with the incident.
3. A court heard on Monday that intruders stabbed a man at his flat in east Belfast after a drugs purchase was arranged on a WhatsApp dealing group. The victim could have died if police had not arrived in time to provide emergency first aid to the serious leg wound, a judge was told.
4. An 84-year old man was today acquitted of a charge of fraud arising from a proposal to purchase the Northern Ireland loan book. Following an investigation which began over ten years ago and a mammoth four-month trial, corporate financier Frank Cushnahan was found ‘not guilty’ on Monday.
5. A Belfast man who said if he could go back he would slap himself after he was caught attempting to meet a 14-year old boy was made the subject of a two-year Probation Order on Tuesday. Daniel Keatings turned up for a meeting with whom he believed was a teenage boy but who was instead a decoy with four condoms and two lubricants.
6. Discussions are taking place between the Criminal Bar Association and the PPS regarding a trial concerning the murder of Ballymena woman Chloe Mitchell, a court heard on Thursday. Brandon Rainey is due to stand trial on two charges arising from the death of the 21-year old whose remains were found in June 2023.
7. A 32-year old man facing domestic-related offences was granted bail on Thursday with a condition imposed banning him from contacting his ex-partner. James Robinson was due to be arraigned at Belfast Crown Court on four charges dating back to last March.
8. A motorist drank up to 12 tins of beer before he allegedly drove over three children in a west Belfast neighbourhood, the High Court heard on Thursday. Thomas Maughan, 37, fled the scene after the two girls and a boy were trapped under his car at Black Ridge View, prosecutors claimed.
9. This week marked the third week of the inquest into the death of 14-year-old schoolboy Noah Donohoe. On Thursday, the inquest heard his appearance on a leisure centre’s CCTV footage appeared to have been “missed” by police in the first “critical” 24 hours after he went missing.
10. A man awaiting trial over a hoax bomb left outside a police station was on Friday denied permission to attend a Derry City FC home match. Sean Pearson, 32,of Culmore Park, Omagh, Co Tyrone, has been charged with possessing articles for use in terrorism. The charge is in connection with a security alert at Omagh PSNI station almost three years ago.
11. An Asda delivery driver who knocked down and tragically killed 12-year-old Aaron Webb just after he got off the school bus was handed a suspended prison sentence on Friday.

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