A man who stole two bottles of Buckfast from a local off-licence whilst on bail for offences while intoxicated has been handed a £100 fine.
A judge who heard the 28-year-old was exploring options to battle his alcohol addiction with probation stated he did not wish to prevent this progress.
Gary Patrick McNally, of Millmount Court, Banbridge pleaded guilty to attempted criminal damage, resisting police and theft at Armagh Magistrates’ on Tuesday.
Court heard these charges were accrued over two separate incidents within the space on a month.
The first of these occurred on August 13, when at around 7.30pm police were called to Armagh City Hospital on Abbey Street to complaints of the defendant being disorderly.
Officers arrived to find McNally in an intoxicated state with staff saying he was no longer welcome on the premises.
The defendant was escorted by police but threw a shopping bag full of goods at the officers.
It was heard McNally also kicked the mirror of a police vehicle causing it to snap back.
As police attempted to arrest him the defendant made his body rigid while kicking and screaming.
He was later interviewed in Dungannon Custody Suite where he stated he could not remember the incident but had been drinking vodka for most of the day.
The second incident occurred on September 12 when police we contacted about the theft of two bottles of Buckfast – to the value of £14.40 – from McGarry’s Fine Wines, Banbridge.
When CCTV was viewed by officers the thief was identified as being McNally, who at the time, was on bail for the previous offences.
Defence counsel stated he believed the case would benefit from a pre-sentence report.
He continued, stating the defendant experienced a traumatic event a year ago, which had led him to begin drinking heavily.
It was heard McNally was currently engaging with probation through another sentence he had been ordered to complete and was exploring ways to deal with his addiction.
District Judge Paul Copeland stated: “I do not want to interfere with the good work which is already being done”.
McNally was ordered to pay a fine of £100 for the first offences along with the offender’s levy of £15.
For the theft, the defendant was fined £25, along with the offender’s levy, and was ordered to pay back the £14.40 for the bottles of Buckfast.
