Man and woman appear in court charged with murder in Co Down

By Helen William, PA

A man and a woman have been remanded in custody after appearing before a judge charged with the murder of 50-year-old Mark Dorrian in Newtownards, Co Down.

Mr Dorrian died in hospital after he was found unconscious with head injuries at a property in the West Street area of the Co Down town in the early hours of St Stephen's Day.

Carl Kerr, 36, of Corry Street, in Newtownards, and Claire Rees, 33, of no fixed abode, were handcuffed and stood throughout the hearing as they appeared together in the dock at Downpatrick Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The defendants, who were wearing grey sweatsuits, each spoke to confirm their personal details and that they understood the charge they face.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) detective sergeant told the court that police could connect the defendants to the offence.

A footprint was found on Mr Dorrian’s head, the court heard.

The detective sergeant said an emergency pull cord had been activated in the apartment after Mr Dorrian was attacked.

This triggered an audio recording that is about 50 minutes long, some of which was clear and other parts are hard to make out, the court heard.

Current indications exclude the footwear worn by Kerr as those which made the mark on Mr Dorrian’s head but there was “a lot of CCTV” that links him to the scene, the detective sergeant said.

He added: “We have a photograph of the deceased with injuries taken at a time when we believe both of the accused were in the premises.

“That photograph was taken whilst (the accused) were both there, approximately one hour before the cord was pulled, so we believe the deceased had been lying there for some time and had been in an injured state.

Defence lawyer Joe Mulholland, representing Kerr, disputed the suggestion that a connection could be made between the accused and the offence saying there were “no independent witnesses” to what happened.

No application for bail was made for the defendants by their lawyers.

Solicitor John Finucane, who was defending Rees, said he had no questions for the PSNI officer at this stage.

Deputy District Judge Paul Copeland ordered both defendants to next appear in custody via videolink at Newtonards Magistrates’ Courts on January 22nd.

On Saturday the PSNI said that a 58-year-old woman who had also been arrested in relation to Mr Dorrian’s death had been released unconditionally.