Community left shocked by scalding incident

The girl suffered what police described as ‘minor burns’ to her face, while a 36 year-old male victim received burns to 10 per cent of his body, mainly on his back.

They were attacked with boiling water from a kettle in the incident last Thursday.

After the incident which took place at Drumlin Grange in Ballyward around 7.35pm, members of the public had to restrain a man, until police officers arrived on the scene.

Mr Herron, who lives nearby, described the incident as a ‘sad situation’ and hoped that the injured parties made a full recovery.

“I heard about the incident,” said a shocked Mr Herron. “It is alarming that the likes of this happens and I was shocked to hear of this. It is a sad situation.

“I just hope that both the girl and man make a full recovery. It could have been a lot worse. The like of this is nothing that you expect or want to happen.

“It is both shocking and disturbing, this happening in such a quiet area like Moneyslane.”

Meanwhile a man has been charged in relation to the incident. On Saturday morning 41-year-old Martin Kernaghan appeared before Newry Magistrates Court. He was charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one charge of Grievious Bodily Harm.

The case was adjourned and he will appear via video link on April 30. He remains in custody at Maghaberry Jail.

During the hearing at Newry Magistrates Court, the defendant’s solicitor said his client had recently been released from a psychiatric unit against his wishes.