A Dungannon man assaulted a female police officer when he was interviewed for stealing a bottle of vodka, a court has heard.
Neil Harrison (38), of no fixed abode, appeared before Armagh Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Newry Courthouse, charged with two counts of theft and assault on police.
Speaking via videolink from Maghaberry to confirm his name and date-of-birth, Harrison entered guilty pleas when the charges of theft were read to him. For those charges, he requested the case be heard in the Magistrates’ Court.
He also pleaded guilty to the assault charge.
On June 13 this year, police were tasked to a report of a theft from Sainsburys in Armagh.
The defendant had taken a bottle of vodka from a shelf, before drinking it in the aisle and leaving the store without making any attempt to pay.
Harrison was later identified on CCTV and located on Market Street, where he was “heavily intoxicated”. He was then arrested on suspicion of theft, making no reply.
He was taken to Dungannon custody and further arrested for a theft of vodka from the same store on June 8.
When in custody, the defendant became aggressive with an officer, who tried to reason with him and control his behaviour.
He then grabbed the female officer by the top of her head and dragged her backwards to the wall of the custody suite, with four officers intervening to restrain him.
Harrison was later interviewed, making full admissions to the charges and apologising for his behaviour.
A defence lawyer, speaking on Harrison’s behalf, said his client has suffered with alcohol issues for a number of years, adding the issue had “plagued his childhood”.
He said there was a suspended sentence in place following a number of recent cases.
District Judge Anne Marshall imposed a total sentence of four months in custody, which consisted of three months for the charges before the court and one month for the suspended sentence breach.
She also ordered that £31.70 in compensation be paid within 20 weeks.
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