A Portadown man who turned up at his ex-partner’s house intoxicated whilst in breach of a restraining order and a suspended sentence has been sentenced to eight months in custody.
John Paul Reilly, of Edward Street in the town, appeared before Armagh Magistrates’ Court, sitting at Newry Courthouse on Tuesday.
The 40-year-old, who appeared via videolink from Maghaberry, was charged with breaching a restraining order.
The court heard that on February 16 this year, police received a report from a person stating that their ex-partner, the defendant, was highly intoxicated and banging at their front door repeatedly. The person stated that they locked their doors and asked the defendant to leave but he refused.
On police arrival, the defendant was standing at the front door of the property and appeared intoxicated. He also had bags of his own property with him.
He was subsequently arrested for breach of a restraining order. He was interviewed in Dungannon custody suite and made full admission to the offence.
District Judge Anne Marshall, presiding, noted that the defendant was in breach of a suspended sentence.
Justin Byrne BL, defending, conceded that the breach of a suspended sentence caused “severe difficulties” for the defendant.
The court heard that he had breached a probation order and then was re-sentenced to the suspended sentence.
The defence noted that the defendant has been abusing alcohol since his teenage years, adding that “he has been in and out of court on a regular basis”.
He explained that the defendant was homeless and had been back with his ex-partner.
“It’s a sad situation in our society at the moment where there’s many people struggling to get any sort of home at all and that, I think, has led to this offending.”
District Judge Marshall said that the pre-sentence report made “sad reading” but that there were services available to him upon his release.
She imposed a sentence of three months in custody for the breach of the restraining order, and activated the suspended sentence for a period of five months.
Both sentences were to run consecutively, making a total sentence of eight months.
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