A MAN has appeared in court accused of stabbing a pharmacist in North Belfast at the weekend.
Tony McCrea (36), of Clifton Courtyard, appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday charged with aggravated burglary, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and two counts of possessing an offensive weapon in public.
An investigating detective claimed that the accused entered Teague’s Pharmacy on the Antrim Road on Saturday afternoon and asked for a prescription under a different name. Due to staff suspicions about the request, a partition at the counter area was locked.
The man then became agitated, court heard, kicked at the door and broke through the shop’s Perspex screen. He also forced his head and arm through the smashed barrier.
Pharmacist Conor McAreavey was stabbed in the hand during the incident as he struggled to defend himself.
The court was told CCTV footage showed the attacker arriving at and leaving the scene in a car. McCrea was in the same vehicle when he was arrested at a later stage, police said. Weapons were also recovered from the vehicle.
A photograph taken by a witness of an armed suspect outside the pharmacy also forms part of the case against him.
Defence solicitor Matt Higgins confirmed that McCrea denies the charges.
“There hasn’t been a Viper (identification) procedure, and there are continuity issues in relation to the photograph,” the lawyer contended.
Refusing bail, however, District Judge Mark McGarrity cited concerns that the accused may re-offend.
He remanded McCrea in custody, to appear again by video-link in four weeks’ time.
