A Portadown man who walked up to Lurgan police station and started shouting obscenities has been fined £500.
Emmett O’Neill, from Markville, pleaded guilty to two counts of disorderly behaviour at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
The 37-year-old was told, that only for the intervention of his defence solicitor, the fines could well have been doubled.
A prosecution lawyer told the court that at around 1am on June 21, O’Neill walked up to Lurgan police station and began shouting foul and abusive language at the front of the station.
Police spoke with the defendant, who initially refused to give his details, however, he was given numerous opportunities to calm down and return home.
Nonetheless, O’Neill continued to shout and swear. Police tried to leave in an effort to see if this would deescalate the matter but the defendant then started shouting, “f***ing GI Joe looking b******d” as members of public looked on.
It was at this point he was arrested.
Two weeks later, at around 1.15am on July 5, police received a report from residents of River Glade Manor in Lurgan stating that O’Neill was outside their address shouting various obscenities such as, “f**k you”.
At one point he had walked up to the Ring doorbell and shouted in at a camera for no known reason while presenting both middle fingers.
The reporting person advised police that he appeared “very intoxicated and had began to engage in arguments with other people in the area”.
Police then located O’Neill on the Portadown Road in Lurgan.
He was still in an irate state after been warned about his behaviour and “at points become emotional, which appeared to be due to his level of intoxication”.
He was unsteady on his feet, slurring his words, and he smelled heavily of intoxicating liquor.
He was then arrested at 1.41am for disorderly behaviour.
Kevin McCamley, defending, said: “He doesn’t cover himself in glory because his behaviour wouldn’t be pleasant for any member of the public to have to listen to.
“But what I will say is, this is a young man who has four children. Up until the beginning of this year, he was in gainful employment, providing support to those children. Mental health issues ensued and he had to take time off work sick; that led to him drinking alcohol.”
He added: “The good news is, he’s now back at work. He wants to put that bad period in his life behind him. This has been a public nuisance of the highest order. There was no real violence offered, or threatened, in these cases… that doesn’t detract from the affect this had on those who witnessed it.”
Passing sentence, District Judge Michael Ranaghan, said: “Mr. McCamley has saved this court from considering more severe options, and I think I’m going to do this today by way of financial penalties.
“Sadly, police in this jurisdiction are well used to that type of behaviour, albeit they shouldn’t be subject to it at all. Certainly our neighbours should not be subject to that.”
O’Neill was fined £250 for each of the disorderly offences, along with a £15 offenders’ levy and given 18 weeks to pay.
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