A man has appeared in court in Northern Ireland accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm by biting off a victim's nose.
Appearing in the dock of Coleraine Magistrates Court, 27-year-old Alan Hutchings confirmed his identity and that he understood the two charges against him.
Mr Hutchings, from Woodland Grove in Antrim, is accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing class b cannabis on 15 April this year.
Giving evidence in objecting to Mr Hutchings being granted bail, Detective Constable (DC) Harrington said she believed she could connect the 27-year-old to each of the offences.
She outlined how the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service had alerted police that they were treating a male on the Dublin Road in Antrim and that he had "his nose bitten off and was bleeding heavily".
When police spoke to the injured party, "he was very distressed" and in addition to his facial injury, police also noted that he had injuries to his head and hands.
He was taken to hospital for treatment and DC Harrington told the court that when officers were patrolling the area, they found "what appeared to be a small lump of human flesh" outside a flat, as well as a large amount of blood on the walls.
DC Harrington said the police at the scene seized CCTV from the block of flats, and when examined, it showed two males "fighting in the street…suspected to be the defendant and the injured party".
"While police were conducting enquiries, several members of the public said that they believed the defendant was responsible for the injuries," the investigator told the court.
Having forced entry, Mr Hutchings was arrested inside the flat and the court heard that he was noted to have dried blood on his clothes and hands.
"He appeared to be intoxicated, whether drink or drugs or both," said the officer, adding that when Mr Hutchings was in custody, he asked to go and wash his hands "before I get a disease" as it was not his blood.
The court heard that during formal police interviews, Mr Hutchings mainly refused to answer questions except when he was shown the CCTV footage of the fight.
DC Harrington said Mr Hutchings conceded "that the male does look like him, but that he is not a biter and he doesn’t know why him and the complainant were fighting…but he reckons it was self defence".
Mr Hutchings told police: "It looks like I got bit, he has been a sore loser and he got bit back."
She told Deputy District Judge Sean O’Hare police are objecting to bail over fears that Mr Hutchings is likely to commit further offences.
"We have a duty to protect the public from this male and a duty of care to protect the injured party from the defendant," the officer said.
Defence counsel Nadine Knight said while "it is recognised that these are very serious charges," she submitted that bail could be granted if there was a package of conditions attached.
Hutchings, she told Judge O’Hare, "presents as a very vulnerable individual" given his background of having a significant brain injury and mental health difficulties.
Adjourning the bail application to Tuesday, the judge said he wanted the defence to identify a proposed bail address further away from Antrim town, and to hear what further evidence there is to connect Hutchings to the incident.
