³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

A County Armagh man has been ordered to stand trial accused of attempted murder following a hatchet attack last year.

Jamie Gallogly, 29, of from Rockview Crescent in Belleeks appeared at Newry Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

He faces two counts of attempted murder and single charges of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and possessing a weapon, namely a hatchet.

All of the offences are alleged to have been committed on 1 June 2022. Mr Gallogly was freed on continuing bail.

An earlier court hearing was told that two men were attacked with hatchets in Newry on 1 June 2022.

According to the police case presented on 3 June 2022, the victims were asleep in a mobile home on the Moorhill Road in Newry when two masked and hooded men, armed with hatchets, smashed their way in and attacked them.

That court heard that one of the victims had been left with a 12cm laceration to the back of his neck, a fractured skull, a punctured lung and "significant damage to the bones in his left hand".

The second victim was said to have sustained "life-changing injuries" including a fractured skull, two punctured lungs as well as "severe lacerations… caused by a bladed instrument".

The detective said police believed the incident was linked to a feud between gangs in Newry.