A Co Armagh man who assaulted his neighbour when he was confronted about tampering with vehicles has been handed a community service order.
On a separate occasion, Jonathan Brady (30), of Mourneview, Mowhan, had also assaulted his father during a confrontation, a court was told.
In March, Brady was told by District Judge Anne Marshall that he would be sentenced in September to give him a chance to engage with probation and community service.
He appeared before Armagh Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Newry Courthouse on Tuesday, on charges relating to two separate cases.
In the first, which happened on July 6, 2023, he was charged with common assault and criminal damage.
The second case relates to an incident which took place on October 20, 2023. For this matter, Brady was charged with possessing an offensive weapon in a public place, common assault and two counts of tampering with a motor vehicle.
The court was told that on July 6, 2023, police were tasked to an ongoing domestic incident at Glenanne.
A man had reported that his son, the defendant, had came to the house and was “highly aggressive” and making threats.
When police arrived, they located the defendant standing in the stairs, appearing to be under the influence.
It was reported that he became confrontational and was handcuffed. When police were escorting him from the property, he lunged forward and headbutted his father.
Brady was brought to the floor in a controlled manner and his limbs were restrained.
Whilst on the floor he resisted police. He was later placed in a cell van, where he spat amid another struggle.
On October 20, 2023, police received a report that Brady was on drugs and tampering with vehicles belonging to the reporting person.
When police arrived, they spoke to the reporting person and other residents who said they witnessed Brady tampering with the vehicles.
The reporting person had gone outside and was approached by Brady, who shouted profanities at him. He “wasn’t making sense” and appeared to be heavily under the influence.
The reporting person told Brady to stay away from his van, after which Brady approached him and punched him.
Brady then went to kick him, before falling over. He then went to his own house and called the reporting person a “big man”.
Brady went into his garden and returned with a large plank of timber, telling the reporting person he was going to “do him”.
He walked back and forth between his garden and the road before throwing the timber at his neighbour’s fence.
When police arrived and entered the address, they observed Brady on a mattress on the floor, heavily under the influence.
He was arrested and taken to a cell van, where he spat before being taken to Craigavon Area Hospital.
Referring to the pre-sentence report, Brady’s defence solicitor said: “The updated report is so positive I had to check Mr Brady hadn’t penned it himself.”
He added that Brady had not engaged in further offending and had completed a “large chunk” of community service.
District Judge Anne Marshall commended Brady for engaging with community service.
Noting that Brady was subject to a suspended sentence, she imposed a total community service order of 160 hours across both cases, telling Brady to “keep up the good work in staying out of trouble”.
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