A man accused of violently assaulting his wife has been granted bail back to Newtownhamilton – less than 200 metres from the home where the alleged attack was carried out.
Kiril Todorov, with an address of The Square, Newtownhamilton, appeared in Newry Magistrates’ Court on Friday accused of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, false imprisonment and domestic abuse.
Police objected to a bail application given the proximity of the address and fears he may return to the home and commit further offences.
However, a defence solicitor argued that Todorov could be bailed to an address on the nearby Dundalk Street and that he could be managed with strict conditions, including the prohibition of alcohol.
“I’ve already conceded that the normal ousting of someone from outside the area where the alleged injured party resides is a sound approach,” he said, “but this is a case where we’re dealing with someone who works for a living, supports the family, and has no record..”
He contended that the interpreter has relayed to him that “if he even looks sideways at her; if he sees her approach on the the street, he moves to the other side”.
A detective constable told the court that on Wednesday, October 9, at approximately 3.40pm police were made aware that the alleged injured party had attended Craigavon Hospital and disclosed she had been assaulted by the defendant the previous night.
Police spoke with the complainant at the hospital where she alleged that herself and her husband had come home after work on the 8th and he had begun drinking alcohol.
She told police that Todorov assaulted her by “hitting her to the face and punching her to the ribs and also threatened to push her down the stairs”.
This, the detective constable said, resulted in “significant bruising to both her eyes and ribs”.
The alleged injured party advised that after the defendant assaulted her “he locked the front door and hid the keys preventing her from leaving the property until he left for work the next morning”.
“Once he left to go to work the alleged injured party has left the property to seek medical attention for her injuries.”
Todorov was arrested and interviewed where he replied no comment to all questions.
District Judge Eamon King queried how long the defendant had been in the jurisdiction.
The officer was unable to confirm but suggested police thought it was “quite recent – a couple of months”.
Judge King admitted Todorov to bail and advised him not to have any contact whatsoever with his wife; to reside at the address on Dundalk Street and not to be on licensed premises or under influence of alcohol at any time and to submit to field tests.
Todorov is due back in Armagh Magistrates’ Court on October 22.
