Man back in court charged with threats against Health Minister Swann
A County Down man already on bail accused of making threats against Robin Swann was back in court on Wednesday accused of making further threats.
Appearing at Newtownards Magistrates' Court by videolink from police custody, 44-year-old William Herbert Hawkes was charged with three offences allegedly committed on 22 January this year.The charges include harassment, making a threat to kill and improper use of a communication network by sending a message that he “knew to be false for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another".
Giving evidence to the court, a police officer said she believed he could connect Hawkes to each of the offences while the defendant himself confirmed he understood them.
During a contested bail application, the officer outlined how a number of tweets from an account linked to Hawkes came to police attention and quoted from them.The police officer added that Hawkes was currently on High Court bail for similar offences. Last November Hawkes, from Ardmillan Crescent in Ards, was charged with three similar offences allegedly committed on 15 November last year - harassing the Health Minister, making a threat to kill Mr Swann and persistent, improper use of a communication network “for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to another.” He also allegedly threatened that “I would like to kill the NI Health Minister,” claiming that he has a car and is going to “pay him a visit.” The officer submitted that by sending more tweets, Hawkes was in breach of multiple bail conditions. Defence solicitor Michael Brentnall revealed that ironically, Hawkes had been due to see a psychiatrist on Tuesday to assess what treatment he should undergo but “obviously the police arrest has scuppered that". He further revealed that Hawkes would have been receiving inpatient mental health treatment but for a lack of beds, submitting that he should be freed on bail because “he needs medical help, not Maghaberry". Mr Brentnall claimed that the “genesis” of the offences came as a result of Hawkes’ “traumatising” experiences working in care home, claiming that the defendant has sent material to a PSNI superintendent and to BBC Spotlight. District Judge Austin Kennedy said while he “accepts entirely the medical background and that may explain, to a certain extent what was going on but certainly doesn’t excuse it”. “The threats to Mr Swann are simply appalling and they have to stop,” declared the judge, adding that “the only way of using a blunt instrument to stop it is a remand in custody - we can be sure that it all stops if he is in custody".
“It’s clear from the tweets that this behaviour has been repeated and the threats to Mr Swann are simply deplorable and unacceptable and just have to stop. “He has a job to do, quite a difficult job and he has done quite an excellent job in my view and he and his family do not need this nonsense,” the Judge concluded. Hawkes was remanded into custody and the case adjourned to 2 March.