Killer who superglued victim's lips shut fights drug charge

Convicted killer Adrian Hayes, who superglued his victim's lips shut, will contest a drug offence, his solicitor has revealed.

A defence solicitor told Lisburn Magistrates’ Court “I can indicate a not guilty plea” for the 42-year-old.

Hayes, from The Commons in Broughshane, Co Antrim, is in custody facing a single count of possessing class B drug herbal cannabis on December 1 last year.

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The court was not told how or in what circumstances the drugs were allegedly found, but Hayes would have been on licence from his life sentence for the murder of vulnerable drug addict Julie Tennant in August 2000.

Hayes had lured the 21-year-old back to his flat where, after punching her to the floor, “pummelled” her face for about 20 minutes.

At his trial a neighbour testified he heard sounds “like an animal whimpering” and Hayes confessed that because the noise was “doing his head in”, he superglued Julie’s lips closed, an act described by sentencing judge Mr Justice Weatherup as “pitiless humiliation”.

Jailing Hayes, Mr Justice Weatherup said: “In this hideous fashion you ended the life of an unfortunate and tragic young woman.”

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During the nine-day hearing it also emerged that in a “panic” Hayes wrapped his victim’s body in a sheet and buried her in a shallow grave outside his home town, later leading police to her body when he was arrested having fled to Dover.

On Monday his defence solicitor told Deputy District Judge Philip Mateer she could agree two of the four prosecution witnesses including a forensic scientist.

Adjourning the case to September 26, Judge Mateer said a date for the contest would be fixed at that stage.