Hi °C | Lo °C A 31-year-old man wept in the dock when he appeared in court yesterday charged with murdering his uncle in Londonderry in the early hours of last Sunday morning.
James Anthony Healy from Hollymount Park in the Waterside area is charged with murdering father of two Christopher James McGaughey (56) who died after he was stabbed in Hollymount Park at around 1am Sunday morning.
The father-of-two, from Celadine Court in the Gobnascale Estate, died after he was stabbed in the stomach with a large bladed knife. Healy is also charged with possessing two large knives with intent to commit murder on the same date.
A woman also suffered minor injuries in the incident.
The defendant arrived for the brief remand hearing in a police van with a blanket over his head to conceal his face from |photographers.
Throughout the remand hearing, Healy kept his head bowed and sobbed in the dock.
A PSNI detective sergeant told
Deputy District Judge Terence Dunlop that she believed she could connect the defendant to the two charges.
There were no questions from a defence solicitor nor did she make an application for the defendant to be released on bail.
The defendant, who did not acknowledge the presence of several members of his family and avoided eye-contact, was remanded in continuing custody until he appears in court for a video link hearing on November 24.
The killing shocked the community where Mr McGaughey was well-known.
Local curate Fr Chris Ferguson said there was widespread grief among the victim’s family and friends.
“This dreadful event has caused devastation to the lives of so many people,” he said.
“It has stunned the community and the parish and caused unimaginable grief at so many levels.”
Mr McGaughey, who worked as a self-employed handyman, is survived by his wife Georgina and by their children, Christina (28) and James (17).
