Men seeking house party attacked with hurley

A householder fearing death threats overreacted when three men arrived at his home searching for an early-hours house party — he struck one of them in the head with a hurley and assaulted a second man.

William Hutchinson, aged 37, was at home at 23 Glenfields Avenue, Ballyvolane, when three men with the wrong directions had called to his house looking for a house party.

Graham Hyde, defending, said while Hutchinson completely overreacted to the men looking for a party, he did have reason to feel under threat from others at that time. A viable explosive device had previously been found under his car, and on another occasion such a device was posted in through his letterbox.