Pensioner facing jail sentence after admitting wounding wife

Roy Cairns, from Cloona Glen in Dunmurry, was to have gone on trial at Belfast Crown Court accused of threatening to kill his wife Lillian and unlawfully and maliciously wounding her with intent to do her grievous bodily harm in September last year.

Defence barrister Ivor McAteer, who told the court that a jury would not be needed to deal with the case, asked that the 65-year-old be rearraigned on the second count, involving the attack on his wife.

Following Cairns’ guilty plea to the wounding charge, prosecutor Gareth Purvis asked for count one, threatening his wife, to ‘remain on the books’.

Releasing Cairns on bail before his sentencing next month, Belfast Recorder, Judge David McFarland, warned that the fact the pensioner was being released could not be taken as an indication of the sentence he will receive.