Castlederg murder accused denied bail

A MAN ejected from a Castlederg pub allegedly stood in wait to launch a fatal knife attack on another customer, the High Court has heard.

Prosecutors claimed Adam Acheson inflicted multiple stab wounds on Conor Browne when the 28-year-old victim left the bar in the early hours of September 2 last year.

Acheson, 28, of Baron Square Court in Drumquin, faces charges of murder and possessing an offensive weapon with intent to endanger life.

He was refused bail after a judge was shown CCTV footage of the alleged attack.

The court heard Acheson and his co-accused Jeffrey Bustard, 27, from Drumlegagh Church Road in Newtownstewart, were thrown out of the bar following a verbal altercation with another group in the smoking area.

Crown lawyer Adrian Higgins claimed they returned later and loitered outside for up to 20 minutes at closing time.

“They effectively stood in wait,” he submitted.

Mr Browne and his group of friends were attacked immediately after they exited the pub, according to the prosecution.

Counsel said the footage showed the victim raising the palms of his hands in an attempt to defuse the situation.

“At one point he touches (Acheson) on the shoulder, but the defendant has a knife already drawn, turns and strikes Mr Browne on the upper part of the neck,” he submitted.

Along with the laceration to his neck, the victim suffered puncture wounds to his chest and arm, and fractures to his cheek and eye socket.

He was initially conscious on arrival at hospital, but his condition deteriorated and he died on September 4.

A post mortem established the cause of death to be complications from the stab wound to the neck.

During police interviews, Acheson claimed his only reason for being outside the bar was to meet a girl.

He recalled struggling on the ground with someone during a melee with another group of males but insisted that he never intended to harm anyone.

Mr Higgins also disclosed that the suspected murder weapon has never been recovered.

Blaine Nugent, defending, accepted there is a prima facie case against his client but argued that he may ultimately face an alternative charge.

“Mr Acheson has accepted his presence outside the bar and that he was involved in a melee (for which) he wishes to offer his apologies,” the barrister said.

He added that the accused suffered severe burns in his youth which have had “a huge detrimental impact on his psychological development”.

Denying bail to Acheson, Mr Justice O’Hara described his account of waiting outside the pub for a girl as “demonstrably false”.

The judge said, “The CCTV footage I have been shown is very clear, and shows there was a deliberate attack on Mr Browne and his friends.”