A man allegedly broke into his ex-partner's home armed with a knife after posting on Facebook about being "a stain on my blade", the High Court heard on Friday.
But lawyers for Caolin Baker argued that he was simply quoting American rap star Eminem before the incident in Belfast's Shankill area early on New Year's Day.
The 20-year-old is accused of smashing a window to get into the Leopold gardens property before assaulting former girlfriend Kirsty Morrison. He faces charges of aggravated burglary inflicting grievous bodily harm, possession of an offensive weapon, making threats to kill Ms Morrison and assaulting another woman present.
Baker, of Skegoneill Drive in the city, was granted bail but ordered to keep outside an exclusion zone around his ex-partner’s home.
The court heard that police who arrested him at the scene found a knife lying on the kitchen floor. With Ms Morrison denying it belonged to her, the alleged weapon was produced for Mr Justice Maguire to inspect. It was not claimed that the knife had been used in the attack.
However, prosecution counsel Natalie Pinkerton drew attention to Facebook postings hours before the incident on the page of a Caolin 'Pac Man' Baker. Claiming this was the accused's account, she said in one he stated: "Must think I'm scared of jail. Life sentence wee buns."
The court was told a separate posting includes the lines: “Pain in my neck, thorn in my side, stain on my blade, blood on my knife”.
Ms Pinkerton contended: "The nature of the Facebook posts would lead one to believe there was some degree of premeditation in going to the property, some degree of planning."
Defence barrister Joe Brolly insisted there was nothing sinister about the online message. "He was at a party that morning and the Facebook post is a rap song, the lyrics from Eminem say 'All I am to you is a pain in my neck..." the lawyer argued.
Asked by the judge why Baker would have posted such words, Mr Brolly replied that it was the act of a different generation. “The world is afloat on a sea of bilge,” he claimed. “If you go on Facebook or Twitter you will see the most inane drivel, it’s like internet Tourette’s.”
The barrister also stressed that Baker “hotly disputes” claims he brought a knife to the house. “His case is she was wielding the knife, they struggled over the knife and it fell to the floor,” he said.
Mr Brolly claimed the alleged victim, a Protestant, screamed sectarian abuse at his client, a Catholic, during the incident.
Granting bail, Mr Justice Maguire imposed a curfew and electronic monitoring as well as banning Baker from any contact with Ms Morrison.