Vulnerable youth with incurable disease was robbed while on shopping trip in Belfast

Police claimed 28-year-old Antony Wylie snatched £55 from him during an encounter outside a supermarket on Tuesday afternoon.

Wylie, of Woodland Avenue in the city, was remanded into custody on a charge of robbery.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard the victim suffers from Juvenile Huntington’s disease - an early onset form of the neurodegenerative condition.

A PSNI constable said he had gone to an Iceland store on the Antrim Road with £55 in cash to purchase items when a man approached and asked him if he wanted to buy cigarettes.

The robber then took the money out of his hand and fled from the scene.“The injured party pursued him briefly but could not keep up or catch him,” the constable said.

A woman inside the supermarket claimed she had witnessed the incident and recognised Wylie as the alleged perpetrator. Police were alerted and located the accused in a nearby garden. Officers who searched him recovered £55 in bank notes, the court heard.

Wylie denies targeting the victim, claiming he had been wrongly named because local residents “have it in for him”.

Opposing his application for bail, the constable insisted that he posed a risk. “The injured party is a vulnerable male from the area… and this took place in broad daylight,” he added.

Defence counsel Michael Boyd argued that Wylie could be released under strict conditions. The barrister also suggested his client had been “let down” in the past due to a lack of resources to tackle his addiction and mental health issues.

Refusing bail, however, District Judge Oonagh Mullan told the accused: “I have grave concerns you will continue to offend.” She remanded Wylie in custody until August 28