A man who carried out an unprovoked homophobic attack in Armagh has been spared a prison sentence.
Paul Halligan, of Dalton Road, Armagh, appeared before the city’s Magistrates’ Court – sitting in Newry – on Tuesday, charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, criminal damage and possession of a Class C drug.
The court heard that the 41-year-old carried out an “attack on a young gentleman who just happened to be going to the off-licence in Armagh”.
Constable Mack previously told Armagh court that the injured party “arrived in a taxi, and the defendant immediately came up, started staring into the taxi. He then went on to call the gentleman a f****t and a queer, and continued that abuse before slamming the door.”
“The gentleman says, ‘yes, I’m queer and proud’. The abuse continued for quite a period of time. The taxi driver also reported that the taxi door was slammed on the injured party and the verbal abuse continued for quite a while.”
The court heard how Halligan punched the complainant to the head and ribs and smashed his glasses.
It was noted that there is CCTV of the incident and that at the same time the owners of Toby Jug witnessed an unprovoked attack and contacted the police.
The complainant stated to police that “he attempted to enter the taxi and the male tried to pull him away from the taxi.”
“He is eventually able to break free, jump into the passenger seat of the taxi where the taxi driver takes him to the police station.”
Defence barrister Conor Coulter said his client himself “probably puts it most appropriately within the pre-sentence report that he describes his behaviour as shameful….it’s to his credit, that he has recognised that.”
However, District Judge Anne Marshall retorted: “On the day of contest…”
Mr Coulter said the case centred around two pieces of CCTV footage, firstly within and outside of the off licence, and then on the dash cam footage of the taxi driver who was present.
The footage from the taxi, Mr Coulter said, was not served on the defence prior to the fixing of the date a for contest but “as soon as it was viewed, certainly by myself and my instructing solicitor, it was quite clear that there’s going to be a guilty plea”.
Judge Marshall added: “I think saying that it’s genuine regret and remorse, it’s not really when somebody pleads not guilty.”
Mr Coulter said his client’s recollection of the incident was “limited”.
He added: “Mr. Halligan, when confronted with any kind of difficulties in his life, he turns to drink and drugs in an effort to cope with that, and almost inevitably, he finds himself back before the courts in relation to a series of public order offences.
The lawyer reference a break down of a relationship and as a result Halligan “returned to a lifestyle that is undesirable, however, to his credit, since the day of his arrest and since he was released on bail, he’s not consumed any alcohol whatsoever.”
Judge Marshall, in passing sentence, remarked: “Well, it’s an extremely serious matter. It’s a serious assault, the custody threshold is clearly passed and you do have previous convictions in relation to assault [and] it’s also aggravated by the comments you made to him.”
However, she said she had “reservations” about a non-custodial sentence “because the last time you got a community based order, you breached it, and it came back to court, so I’m going to give you one chance and one chance only”.
Halligan was handed 100 hours Community Service as well as a two-year Probation Order. He was also told to pay the victim £100 in compensation for the damage caused to his glasses.
The judge concluded: “Anytime you’re tempted to call in sick or be late for any appointment, remember, I’ve told you, when you’re coming back for a breach, bring your bags with you, because it’ll be immediate custody should you fail to do any part of that order.”
