A MAN was stabbed up to nine times at a Co Down forest park after allegedly calling another camper a lesbian, the High Court heard today.
Prosecutors said the 42-year-old was attacked near the tent where he had been staying.
Details were disclosed as a woman accused of trying to kill him was released on bail but banned from going within 25 miles of the site.
Elizabeth Marks (24) and her boyfriend David Higginson (31) each face a charge of attempted murder after violence flared at Tollymore Forest Park near Newcastle last Saturday night.
Crown barrister Philip Henry said it was alleged that Marks, of Avenue Road, Lurgan, started beating the victim around the head as he socialised at a camp fire. The injured man claimed he had earlier intervened on her behalf in a dispute with the park ranger and that she was “off her head on drugs”.
It was further alleged that as he tried to defend himself Higginson, of no fixed address, lunged at him.
Police called to the scene arrested Marks at another part of the caravan site.
Her partner was found covered in blood and with injuries to his eye, finger and leg. A knife was found in his trouser pocket, the court heard.
Mr Henry revealed that Higginson told police the stab victim had been making lewd comments and called his girlfriend a lesbian.
The 42-year-old man suffered seven stab wounds, a punctured lung and a cut to his liver, according to the prosecution.
“He has since been discharged from hospital and indicated his desire to return to the tent at Tollymore Forest Park,” Mr Henry disclosed.
“It appears he doesn’t have a permanent residence and that’s where he has been living.”
Marks’s application for bail was opposed due to possible interference with witnesses, with a 16-year-old boy who intervened in the fracas said to fear for his safety.
Defence counsel Michael Boyd stressed there was no suggestion that his client had stabbed the victim.
Mr Boyd said Marks lost her temper after taking a lot of drink mixed with medication.