Pensioner punched outside primary school has only 'one per cent chance of survival' court is told
A pensioner punched unconscious outside a primary school has a “one per cent chance of survival,” a court heard today.
Coleraine Magistrates Court also heard how the 74-year-old victim is in a medically induced coma in an Intensive Care Unit and according to a detective, the prognosis is “not a good outlook.”
Standing in the dock charged with causing grievous bodily harm to the pensioner was 21-year-old Marcus Fleming.
In addition to the charge of causing GBH on 2 November this year Fleming, from Cedarmount in Antrim, was also charged with causing criminal damage and one charge of attempted criminal damage to a police cell and vehicle on the same date.
Giving evidence during a contested application for bail, the police officer told the court it was at 7.32pm on Saturday evening when an ambulance crew alerted police that a male had been assaulted and was unconscious and bleeding heavily outside Antrim Primary School.
A female witness said she had seen a man punching the pensioner in the face, causing him to fall, said the officer adding that first aid was given to the stricken pensioner until paramedic arrived.
When police spoke to the defendant at the front door of a property “blood was coming from his nose” and he was arrested at 9.44pm but during the arrest operation and on his way to custody, Fleming had been irate and “in an agitated state” as he was “kicking and head butting the cell doors.”
Despite warnings Fleming allegedly spat and urinated inside the cell van and during police interviews, Fleming admitted punching the pensioner but claimed he acted in self-defence after being struck.
Fleming maintained that he had been hit first “so he had hit him back” but the court also heard that Fleming had been remorseful and “upset by the level of injury” sustained by the 74-year-old.
In his submissions, defence lawyer Andy Edgerton said: “This is a very, very sad case; the defendant has been extremely remorseful.”
“There was no premeditation and he fully accepts involvement in the altercation, making full admissions to his part, it was not a sustained attack,” said the lawyer, submitting that according to the defendant, “there was a confrontation and he fully accepts he struck him once.”
“He had injuries himself and says he was attacked first by the complainant and then punched him back. That punch rendered him unconscious,” Mr Edgerton conceded but added: “The defendant expressed remorse from the get-go, it was a simple moment of madness and he gave a full account of his actions.”
Refusing bail however and remanding Fleming into custody until 26 November, District Judge Peter King said he had “no hesitation” in coming to his decision and citing a risk of reoffending, he revealed that Fleming has 98 previous convictions including 43 for violence since 2020.