A 78-year-old man is to stand trial accused of attacking his neighbour with a bayonet, a judge ordered today.
Billy Passmore faces charges connected with an alleged stabbing in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim.
A man in his sixties was taken to hospital for treatment to injuries following the incident in a block of flats at Rathcoole Close on February 15 last year.
Passmore was originally accused of his attempted murder.
But the pensioner, of Rathcoole Close, appeared at Belfast Magistrates' Court today on a reduced charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
He is further accused of possessing an offensive weapon - namely a bayonet - with intent to commit an indictable offence.
Passmore also faces a third count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm to another man in the same incident.
During preliminary enquiry proceedings he confirmed that he understood the allegations, but declined to give any evidence at this stage.
District Judge Fiona Bagnall then granted a prosecution application to have him returned for Crown Court trial on a date to be fixed.
Passmore, who is banned from returning to the Rathcoole area, was released on continuing bail to live at sheltered accommodation in Belfast.
Defence solicitor Stephen McCann raised concerns about his client's mental health.
"There will be a live issue of fitness to plead," he said.
The lawyer also confirmed he will be seeking two barristers to represent Passmore at any trial due to his "complex" circumstances.
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