A 31-YEAR-old man has appeared before a special sitting of Bandon District Court in West Cork charged with assault causing harm to his mother at a house in Innishannon last Friday afternoon.

Evidence of the arrest, charge and caution of Gearoid Coughlan was given by Detective Garda Peter Nolan.

Detective Garda Nolan said that Coughlan made no reply when the charge of assault causing harm to Mary Coughlan was put to him under caution.

Detective Garda Nolan said that Coughlan, who has an address at Ballycoughlan, Innishannon in Co Cork was arrested at 2.48pm on Friday 4 June on Main Street in the town.

He was conveyed to Bandon Garda Station in connection with an assault which had occurred earlier that afternoon on Mary Coughlan at a property in Ballycoughlan.

Judge James McNulty was told that Coughlan was charged with the offence of assault causing harm to Mary Coughlan contrary to Section 3 of the Non Fatal offences against the Person Act at 9.50pm today.

Defence Solicitor Plunkett Taaffe said he was not making a bail application for his client at this juncture. However, he reserved the right to make a bail application at a later date.

He asked that his client receive psychiatric assistance and aid for his general welfare whilst in custody.

He said that Coughlan had been under psychiatric care for some time and was unwell.

Judge James McNulty directed that Coughlan receive all the necessary care and medication in prison. He asked that the Prison Governor be made aware of all the medical needs of the defendant.

Coughlan, who was wearing a grey pants and a grey top, was remanded in custody until next Friday. He will appear before Bandon District Court at 3pm on Friday.

Free legal aid was granted as Coughlan is in receipt of disability benefit.

Mary Coughlan was found injured at her home in Ballycoughlan about 3km outside Innishannon at around 2.15pm on Friday. A family member raised the alarm and paramedics and gardaí rushed to the scene.

The woman was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital where she remains in a critical condition. She underwent emergency surgery following the stabbing incident.