Tyrone McCrory is accused of brandishing the blade as he tried to force his way into the family home in Ballymena last month. A judge was told the 25-year-old is a crack cocaine addict who launched the attack a day after being released from mental health facilities. Advertisement Advertisement Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to NorthernIrelandWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.

McCrory, of Chiswick Walk in Ballymena, faces charges of possessing an offensive weapon in public, aggravated burglary with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, threats to kill, common assault, and criminal damage. Prosecutors claimed he arrived at the family house on the same street on May 17 with a machete and tried to gain access by the front door and window. His mother and sister were in the property at the time, but moved out to the back garden for safety.

It was alleged that McCrory followed them, hitting his sister over the head with a mop and punching her several times before striking her with a small table. Advertisement Advertisement His mother was also punched before they got him out of the property, according to a Crown lawyer. The barrister submitted: “He returned a short time later with a machete and threatened to kill both of them.

” She told the court McCrory pushed the blade through an open window and the letter box close to where his mother and sister were standing. “They believed he was trying to kill them, and if police hadn’t.