Man stabbed with hot knife and dumped in Broughshane field, court hears

By Q Radio News

A man who was kidnapped, tortured and stabbed with a hot knife was within an hour of death when he was found dumped in a field near Broughshane in Co Antrim, a court has heard.

The victim was discovered near the Lisnamurrikin Road wearing just his shoes and boxer shorts and was only spotted by bin men because of the height of the lorry.

The details emerged as two more men were charged with his attempted murder.

David Cherry (39), from Waveney Park in Belfast and Sean Davies (38), from Queen's Park in Saintfield, appeared at Ballymena magistrates court via videolink today where they were also accused of kidnapping, arson and possession of drugs.

A police officer told the court that according to doctors, “the victim was within an hour from death from possible hypothermia or blood loss due to the injuries” having been dumped in the field at some stage from around 2am on October 11.

Last week at the same court 36-year-old David Coleman, from Fountain Street, and Mark Bradshaw (51) from High Street, both in Ballymena, were remanded into custody on the same charges.

During a contested bail application today a police officer told the court that having been sedated in intensive care for more than two weeks, the victim made a statement to police that he had been invited to Coleman’s flat to repay a debt.

She said that according to the victim, he was stabbed in the chest with a knife that had been heated on a gas hob. He was also slashed in the mouth.

The court also heard claims the victim was ordered to strip and “clean up his own blood” before being dumped in the field.

Cherry and Davies were remanded into custody and the case adjourned to December 30.