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Assault victim ‘beaten with iron bar, had his throat cut and boiling water poured on legs’

Two to be sentenced next month for assaults on two men in one evening

Court Justice

Two Co. Armagh men who assaulted two others in one evening must wait until next month to be sentenced.

Jonathon Hall, 23, of Hamilton Street, Lurgan, and Matthew Johnston, also 23, of Knocknagore Road, Gilford, appeared at Craigavon Crown Court on Thursday for arraignment.

Both men entered pleas of guilty to two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon with intent to cause actual bodily harm.

Hall also faces charges for the possession of a Class B drug and possession with the intent to supply a Class C drug, namely diazepam.

At a previous bail application in August court heard the incident occurred on December 9 of last year, when police received three separate reports of two people being attacked at an address in Lurgan.

The first injured party said he had been attacked by the defendants with an iron bar, alleging they had also poured boiling water on his legs before cutting them.

He also claimed that they had cut his throat.

The second injured party said the defendants had hit him on the head with a chair before throwing glass bottles at him.

Police arrived at the address to find it had been cleaned up but found Hall in the kitchen, where he was then arrested.

During a search of the home, officers found a small amount of cannabis resin.

He made no reply when cautioned but gave admissions during an interview at Armagh Custody Suite.

On that occasion, it was also heard that Hall had 56 previous convictions, seven bail breaches, four bench warrants and the offences before the court had been carried out whilst on bail for grievous bodily harm.

His Honour Judge Patrick Lynch ordered a pre-sentence report.

Hall’s defence barrister Joel Lindsay said that his client had suffered from “a serious addiction problem for a number of years”.

The case will return to court on November 30 for sentence.

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