Man and woman charged over firing shotgun in children’s park

A man and woman were remanded into custody on Saturday facing charges relating to a sawn off shotgun being fired at a children’s park.

Tatjana Glusecenko (34) from Russia and Simon Larmour (26), who appeared side by side in the dock of Belfast Magistrates Court, confirmed they understood the charges against them.

Ms Glusecenko, of no fixed abode, and Mr Larmour from Rathvarna Drive in Lisburn, are jointly charged with possessing a firearm, namely a sawn off single barrelled shotgun and with intent to cause fear of violence.

They are also charged with shortening the barrel of a shotgun, having a loaded gun while drunk or under the influence of drugs and having the gun without authority from the secretary of state.

Mr Larmour, who appeared in the dock with a severely blackened, bruised right eye and his right arm in makeshift sling, was further charged with discharging a shotgun at Beverly Street in he city and assaulting a constable with all the charges alleged to have occurred on July 2nd, 2015.

On Thursday more than a dozen children were playing in a park on Dover Street, just off the Shankill Road, when a shot was fired into the air.

The frightened youngsters fled and raised the alarm while members of the public detained the people they believed were responsible for the incident until police arrived.

Detective Constable Burns told the court on Saturday he believed he could connect the pair to each of the charges and as no bail applications were lodged, District Judge Bernie Kelly remanded them into custody to appear again on Monday.