A man charged with a vicious attack on a 14-year-old girl in Shelburne in July made a brief court appearance on Wednesday.

Jade Cowan, 19, was in a bail court on Wednesday but a bail hearing didn’t happen.

“In order to protect everybody, Mr. Cowan included, you want to make sure that that there are certain things in place. Whether that be supervision, whether it be that he has a surety, and that is a person to look over them to make sure they are following the rules, or if there is a curfew or a counseling that might assist,” said Cowan’s lawyer Carrie Bellan.

Cowan faces five serious charges; they include attempted murder, assault with a weapon, choking and two counts of aggravated assault.

“We have to recognize that these are not convictions, he hasn’t been found guilty at this point in time, they are just allegations,” added Bellan.

Cowan is alleged to have attacked a 14-year-old girl from Shelburne. She was sent to hospital and has since been released but police say she still has a long recover ahead of her.

“It is our plan to obviously run a bail hearing, seek bail for Mr. Cowan but we are still in the process of putting this plan together,” said Bellan. “When you do that it can sometimes take a long time to get a plan in place. That’s going to ensure the court that it’s safe for that person to be out of custody while they are awaiting trial.”

Even though the issue of bail hasn’t been addressed yet, a judicial pretrial has been set for after Labour Day. Lawyers for the defence and the crown will meet with the judge to figure out what the next steps are.

Police say the victim and Cowan knew each other for a short period of time but were not dating. Cowan was arrested two hours after the alleged crimes took place. Police say they are still looking for dark coloured clothing in the northwest section of Shelburne. They say it might be key evidence going forward.

A publication ban prevents the release of any information that could identify the victim or disclose any evidence in this case at this point.

Cowan will remain in custody until his next court appearance on September 4th.