Aaron Law death: Fergal Doherty charged with manslaughter

A 41-year-old man has been charged with the manslaughter of Aaron Law in Portglenone, County Antrim.

Mr Law, 34, from the Portglenone area, was found lying unconscious in Main Street on Sunday.

The father of two had suffered a head injury and was taken to hospital, but later died.

Fergal Gerard Doherty, a former captain of the Derry GAA senior county football team, appeared in court on Thursday.

Defence barrister Joe Brolly told Ballymena Magistrates' Court that Mr Doherty admitted "striking Mr Law in self-defence".

Mr Law was found lying unconscious outside Pat's Bar, which the defendant owns, shortly after 01:00 GMT on Sunday.

A detective sergeant said the victim was being "escorted" out of the premises and had a verbal altercation with a doorman.

The defence barrister said his client tried to intervene when Mr Law swung a punch at him and that he "threw a punch back".

The police said Mr Law fell to the ground and banged his head.

"Both the member of door staff and Mr Doherty left him lying on the road and returned to the bar," the detective sergeant told the court.

He said a witness claimed Mr Law had been on the ground for 10 to 15 minutes before Mr Doherty and door staff pulled him off the road and set him against the wall of the bar.

"A member of the public who was sober arrived and noticed he was in need of assistance," the detective said.

He said that shortly after officers arrived they asked Mr Doherty and door staff if they knew about the assault, which they initially denied.

The court was told that the next morning Mr Doherty travelled to his parents' home to tell them what had happened before planning to hand himself into police.

"He showed terrible grief and remorse," his barrister said.

Mr Brolly told the court that "witnesses make it clear that this was self-defence… there is no evidence which contradicts this".

He added that this was a "difficult situation where a young man has lost his life".

He said his client was "a very well-known young man who played Gaelic football for Bellaghy, Derry and Ulster for many years".

He told the court his client wept during police interviews, "was extremely distressed" and "wants to offer his sympathies" to Mr Law's family.

The detective sergeant said Mr Doherty was arrested later on Sunday morning and that during police interviews he gave a full account of what happened, adding it had been corroborated by other individuals.

Police objected to bail, saying they believed the accused could reoffend or interfere with witnesses.

The defence barrister said he felt it was "as obvious a case of self-defence" as he had come across, saying his client "ought never to have been charged".

District Judge Neil Broderick said the court extended its sympathy to the family of Mr Law, describing it as a "tragic loss of life".

In refusing bail, he said the court acknowledged it was a "small, rural community and there are witnesses still to be spoken to".

"In the context of serious allegations and a live investigation in my view there is a concern the court would have that there is a risk the defendant could interfere in investigation or course of justice."

The case has been adjourned until 1 December.