Boy, 17, appears in court over serious assault
BBCA 17-year-old boy has been remanded in custody at Londonderry Magistrates' Court charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm on another boy of the same age in the city at the weekend.
The court was told on Monday that the injured boy is critical in intensive care following an altercation in Butcher Street in the early hours of Sunday.
The suspect, who cannot be named due to his age, is also accused of assaulting another man and breaching bail conditions relating to a separate case.
The police opposed bail and the teenager was remanded in custody to appear in the youth court on Tuesday.
The court was told that the incident had been captured on CCTV and that the defendant was seen being pulled away from the area before returning and punching the other youth.
A police officer said the injured boy had suffered a bleed on the brain and was in a critical condition in intensive care.
The officer said that a number of witnesses were still to be interviewed and that the defendant had "made off" after the incident.
The defence solicitor said that the first thing his client had asked him was the condition of the injured youth.
He said the incident was a fight between young men and resulted from a one-punch assault leading to serious head injuries.
He said his client had made full admissions and would maintain he had no intention of causing serious harm.
The judge said that the single punch must have been delivered "with some force" and she refused bail.
