Man accused of Belfast Islamic Centre attack to undergo psychiatric test, solicitor says
The lawyer from KRW Law said there were some "psychiatric concerns' and that is a 'very unique case and a very serious case'.
Jonathan Robert Bell, from Chester Manor in Belfast, appeared in court in relation to the attack.
The 34-year-old was charged with a number of offences including attempted arson with intent to endanger life, attempt to cause an explosion, making explosives with intent to endanger life and criminal damage.
Police previously said a viable device was thrown through a window of the centre during evening prayer on Friday.
Officers cordoned off the area and the public were encouraged to avoid it.
Asked if he understood the charges in court, Bell replied: 'Yes.'
Sergeant Michael Brannigan told the court he could connect the accused to the offences.
No bail application was made but Bell's solicitor from KRW Law has called for him to undergo a mental health assessment under Article 51 before he was remanded into custody.
His solicitor that he anticipates there will be an application to transfer, subject to the outcome of the report, to a mental health facility.
The judge said an application for an Article 51 assessment is premature and that he would look at the matter again in two weeks.
The case was adjourned until July 8.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Independent
19 hours ago
- The Independent
Officials win court case to remove asylum-seekers from a UK hotel that's been the focus of protests
A hotel near London that has become the focus of heated anti-migrant protests in recent weeks will have to remove asylum-seekers who are staying there after authorities won a legal bid Tuesday to oust the migrants. Officials from the Epping Forest District Council asked a judge to issue an order to temporarily block migrants from being accommodated at the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, due to 'unprecedented levels of protest and disruption' over asylum-seeker accommodation. Thousands of people, some chanting 'save our kids' and 'send them home," have protested near the hotel after an asylum-seeker living there was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu has denied charges against him and is due to stand trial later this month. The protests, which included local people as well as some members of organized far-right groups, started out peaceful but turned violent. At least nine people were arrested in connection with the demonstrations. Anti-racism demonstrators have also staged counterprotests outside the Bell Hotel and other sites. Philip Coppel, a lawyer for local officials in Epping, said the hotel's housing of asylum-seekers had provided a 'feeding ground for unrest" and community tension. A High Court judge ruled Tuesday that the hotel must stop housing asylum-seekers by Sept. 12. It wasn't immediately clear where the migrants would be moved to. Last summer, days of anti-immigrant rioting rocked towns and cities across England and Northern Ireland, triggered by the killing of three young girls at a summer dance class in Southport, northwest England. Crowds in more than two dozen towns attacked hotels housing migrants, as well as mosques, police stations and a library, driven partly by online misinformation claiming the attacker was a migrant who had arrived in the U.K. by small boat. Some rioters targeted nonwhite people and threw bricks and fireworks at police. Tensions have long simmered over the government's policy of using hundreds of hotels across the country to house migrants who are awaiting a decision on their asylum status. Critics say it costs taxpayers millions of pounds, the hotels become flashpoints in communities, and leave migrants feeling targeted by local residents.


Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
Reeves's tax on farmers funds the fight against shoplifting, suggests minister
Rachel Reeves's tax raid on farmers will fund the fight against shoplifting, a minister has suggested. Torsten Bell said the Chancellor's changes to inheritance tax will enable more police on the streets, meaning fewer shops needing to pay for their security. Speaking to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Mr Bell, a Treasury and pensions minister, said: 'If you go back to the autumn Budget last year, which is when the big decisions this Government made were taken, yes, there were some tough decisions on tax. 'I understand why people affected by those would rather they hadn't taken place. But if you look at the decisions we've had to make on inheritance tax, or capital gains tax, or on non-doms or on VAT on private schools, we're doing the right thing to make sure that we can have sustainable public finances. 'But also that we can bring austerity to an end, so we can start to rebuild public services. And in the end, that is the pro-business choice just like it's the pro-public services choice. 'Because we can't have retail businesses having to deal with paying to put security guards on their door because there aren't enough police on the beat. We can't have people having to pay a health charge in effect because their workers aren't able to turn up to work because waiting lists are too long in the NHS.' Mr Bell's remarks are likely to fuel the backlash to how the Government has approached both its changes to agricultural property relief and the shoplifting crisis. The shoplifting epidemic is at record levels with nearly three offences a minute – or 530,643 in total – reported to police in the year to March, at an estimated cost of £1.8bn to retailers. Last week, Dame Diana Johnson, the policing minister, warned business owners against displaying products such as bottles of alcohol at the front of stores because people will steal them. The Prime Minister's official spokesman then said Sir Keir Starmer would not call shoplifters 'scumbags' in response to a free speech row. North Wales Police was forced to clarify its position after its officers told a shopkeeper that a sign calling shoplifters 'scumbags' could be offensive. Farms close after tax A record number of farms have already closed for good this year after the Government's so-called 'family farm tax' made the future of thousands of rural businesses unviable. Currently, family farms do not incur inheritance tax and receive full relief on the usual 40 per cent rate. But at her first Budget last October, Ms Reeves confirmed inheritance tax will be charged at a rate of 20 per cent, above a threshold of £1m. A total of 6,365 agriculture, forestry and fishing businesses closed in the past year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the highest number on record. Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary, said the farm closures were a result of 'Labour's disastrous tax policies'. Reform UK, meanwhile, warned that Ms Reeves's policy and wider £40bn tax raid was 'pushing British farming to the brink'. Farmers have objected to the tax raid because their businesses are typically cash-poor and low-margin, meaning they will be forced to sell chunks of their land to settle the bill. Other farmers have warned that the impending increase in their costs has opened a 'suicide window' for elderly business owners. Shortly after Ms Reeves's announcement in November, Jeremy Clarkson led a protest that saw him address a crowd of around 10,000 people in Westminster. The former Top Gear host runs the Oxfordshire Diddly Squat farm and is the star of the Clarkson's Farm reality television show, which chronicles the challenges faced by the agricultural industry. Farmers are also struggling with the soaring cost of fertiliser and a poor harvest after the recent drought and floods last year. Heatwaves across parts of the country have left growers fearing a record-low yield for their crop and vegetable harvest. The hot weather came on top of the pressures of increased employers' National Insurance contributions and the raising of the minimum wage. The British Growers Association said this week that the current summer was 'proving to be yet another climatic challenge for growers', with some regions especially badly-hit.


Metro
4 days ago
- Metro
Nickelodeon star files for divorce after 4 years of marriage
Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell has reportedly filed for divorce after four years of marriage. The Drake and Josh star, 39, dated actress and model Janet Von Schmeling for five years before getting married in 2018. During their four-year marriage, Bell and Schmeling had son Wyatt together, born in 2021. In 2023, she filed for divorce, citing 'irreconcilable differences.' According to TMZ at the time, she requested legal and physical custody of their son, as well as spousal support and visitation rights for Bell. The publication suggests that there was 'no movement' in the case until last year, when the court reportedly requested both parties to meet to expedite proceedings. TMZ claim that Bell has filed for divorce himself, putting in his own petition from Florida. The couple are said to have been separated since 2022. According to Bell, he first found out that his wife planned to divorce him via social media. When the news broke on TMZ in 2023, he tweeted: 'I found out my wife filed for divorce from TMZ…check out my new song.' This came only a week after he had been reported missing and 'endangered' by Daytona Beach Police. Hours later, a spokesperson told 'At this time we can confirm law enforcement officials are in contact and Mr Bell is safe.' The Orange County Sheriff's Office added that the actor had been found in their jurisdiction 'unharmed' at around 11.30am, and deputies had taken action to make sure he received a 'mental health evaluation'. Bell joked about the situation afterwards, Tweeting: 'You leave your phone in the car and don't answer for the night and this?' Bell has experienced a troubled personal life since leaving Nickelodeon. In 2021, he was accused of having inappropriate conversations with a 15-year-old online that were sexual in nature. During the subsequent hearing, the actor pleaded guilty to the attempted endangerment of children, a fourth-degree felony, and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, a first-degree misdemeanour. After someone on social media branded him a sex offender, Bell responded: 'Do a second of research. This is what I have to live with everyday. They are literally going to kill me.' In another tweet, he added: 'In a separate tweet he added: 'Noooo Immmm Nooooooottttt [a paedophile]!!!! You people are going to kill me.' He went on to tell another user: 'Nooooo I wasn't!! You people are destroying my life.' Last year, the former child star came forward to allege that he was himself a victim of sexual abuse by dialogue coach and now-convicted sex offender Brian Peck. In the Investigation Discovery series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,Bell claimed that he had been 15 years old when the abuse happened. Peck worked as a dialogue coach on Nickelodeon's The Amanda Show, which Bell had starred in from 1999 to 2002. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In August 2003, Peck was arrested on more than a dozen charges related to sexual abuse allegations involving an unnamed minor. More Trending The following year he pleaded no contest to performing a lewd act with a 14 or 15-year-old and to oral copulation with a minor under 16. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender. View More » has reached out to Drake Bell's representatives for comment. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Have Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet actually broken up? The evidence so far MORE: 'Beautiful Girls' rapper Sean Kingston sentenced to prison over $1,000,000 fraud scheme MORE: Bianca Censori flashes huge smile in typically tiny outfit on date with Kanye West