An Armagh man who urinated in the street as families were waiting to see Santa at the Georgian Light Show in the city has been jailed.
Jody Curry, of Corrigan Court, is – his defence barrister says – approaching the 200-club, in reference to the number of convictions his client has racked up.
The 32-year-old appeared at Armagh Magistrates’ Court – sitting in Newry – on Tuesday via videolink from Maghaberry, charged with indecent behaviour, resisting police, assaulting police and disorderly behaviour, which occurred on Friday, November 29, last year.
The court heard how police received a call from the Eventsec staff at the Georgian Light Show at the Market Place Theatre in Armagh around 7.45pm.
They reported a male who had exposed himself by urinating in the street, in the vicinity of the general public, consisting of adults and children, who were waiting to see Santa.
Police arrived, were briefed by the staff, and identified Curry, who was sitting on a bench nearby.
He appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, and his behaviour was extremely erratic. He tried to flee from police but was restrained close to the entrance of the Theatre.
Curry, while being searched, became “very violent and tried to headbutt an officer”.
He continued to exhibit violent behaviour during the journey to Craigavon Area Hospital, where he was taken to be checked out. He was interviewed in Lurgan Custody Suite later that night and made no comment to all the questions that were asked of him.
Defence Barrister Kevin O’Hare admitted the offences “probably merit a custodial sentence”, adding, “Mr Curry is approaching the 200 club as it is with his record.”
However, Mr O’Hare said that he was currently with Probation because “it was felt that custody isn’t working” and that “something different might address some of those underlying issues”.
“Probation haven’t given up on him yet,” he said.
“I would respectfully urge the Court to consider, in this case, something like a short deferment period to see whether or not he can stick to this order.”
Addressing a pre-sentence report, Mr O’Hare continued: “There are some good things in this pre-sentence report. He’s in a settled relationship. He’s living with that partner in Armagh. He seems to have caught himself on about his so-called mates he keeps getting in trouble with. He’s reduced his drug intake. He’s engaged with mental health in custody. He wants to keep that going when he gets out. So, there are some green shoots there, where he at least acknowledges the problems he has and seems to want to deal with them.
“So, continuing with the probation order, leaving this hanging over his head by way of deferment, might be the best way to try and continue that.”
However, District Judge Anne Marshall was less agreeable.
“There’s absolutely no way that I can do anything other than immediate custody, given that these four convictions will take your convictions up to 198,” she said.
“This was dreadful behaviour that started with children waiting to see Santa and you committing indecent behaviour, and then you went on and compounded that by assaulting police, resisting and being disorderly.
“Usually, I would defer in this type of scenario if I thought there was any chance at all that the person could keep out of trouble, but I don’t have the same optimism about Mr Curry that Mr O’Hare has, and I’m going to impose five months’ immediate custody for all of the offences.”
