Conor Browne: Two men appear in court charged with murder

Conor Browne died after a night out with friends in Castlederg on Saturday

A court has been shown video footage of a fight outside a County Tyrone bar in which a man was fatally stabbed.

It was played during a bail application for one of two men accused of murdering 28-year-old Conor Browne in Castlederg.

The father-of-one was stabbed outside a bar in the early hours of Saturday and died in hospital on Monday.

Adam Acheson, 28, from Baron Square Court, Drumquin, and Jeffrey Bustard, 27, from Drumlegagh Church Road, Newtownstewart, face murder charges.

They appeared at Dungannon Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

In addition to the murder charge, Mr Acheson is also accused of possession of an offensive weapon, namely a knife, with intent to endanger life.

He was remanded into custody while Mr Bustard was granted bail subject to strict conditions.

Smoking area altercation

A detective constable told the court that Mr Browne was drinking with friends inside the bar when there was an altercation involving the defendants in a smoking area.

After they were ejected from the bar, CCTV footage showed them getting into a white van outside, which drove away before returning a short time later.

When Mr Browne left the bar at about 01:30 BST he was approached by the two defendants and another man and a fight ensued.

The detective said Mr Acheson was seen by witnesses and on CCTV stabbing Mr Browne multiple times with a knife.

The victim was taken to hospital and he was conscious and talking, but his condition deteriorated and he was taken to surgery.

He was later transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital in a critical condition.

On Monday afternoon, he was pronounced dead.

The two defendants, who were initially arrested in the hours after the attack on suspicion of attempted murder, were further arrested on suspicion of murder.

'I didn't intend to harm anyone'

The detective said when questioned Mr Acheson replied 'no comment' to questions but gave a prepared statement to the police.

He said he had been in the bar when Mr Bustard was involved in an argument and then he left of his own free will.

He said he stayed outside the bar until closing time but the only reason was to meet a girl.

The court was told he remembered a melee starting and he felt someone grabbing him around the neck, and then struggling on the ground.

He said he didn't remember a man bleeding, adding: "I didn't intend to harm anyone".

In his account to the police, Mr Bustard had said he could not remember what the argument in the bar was over, but that it was not a physical fight.

He said he did not know who threw the first punch during the altercation in the street but he said no weapons were used.

The accused said he did not stab the victim, he had no knowledge of a knife and did not know Adam Acheson had a knife, and he was not involved in planning an attack on anyone.

The police objected to a bail application from Mr Bustard saying there was risk of interfering with some of the 31 witnesses they had identified.

She also said a threat had been made to the defendant's father and there was a risk he might flee.

A video of the attack was shown at Dunganon Magistrates' Court

A defence lawyer asked for a video which showed the attack to be played to the court.

Filmed from inside a car, people could be seen fighting in the street during the minute-long clip.

Screaming could be heard while someone said: "Jeffrey's getting a battering".

The lawyer said the video showed two separate fights, and that Mr Bustard was fighting another man when Conor Browne was stabbed.

He said that in respect of his client: "Without knowledge of the knife, the murder charge does not get off the ground."

The police officer argued that taking the incident as a whole, the defendants were drinking together, left the bar together, waited together, ran together and instigated a fight to cause grievous bodily harm on someone.

The judge said he could not lose sight of the tragedy that this incident had resulted in the loss of Conor Browne's life.

He said the seriousness of the offence, however, was not grounds to refuse bail.

The judge said the weight of evidence in court did not point to the death being a "joint enterprise".

He said he would grant the bail application with very stringent conditions, including that Mr Bustard resides at an address outside of Strabane, Castlederg, Newtownstewart and Sion Mills, and only enters those areas on his way to and from work.

He will be subjected to a curfew, wear an electronic tag, and must not contact his co-accused or anyone involved in the ongoing police investigation.

As well as his own bail of £750 his father must make a cash surety of £5,000.

Mr Bustard will appear in court again on 28 September while Adam Acheson was remanded into custody until 12 September.