A Newry man who branded a police officer a “fat b*****d” and “black and tan” in the grounds of Craigavon Area Hospital has been spared prison.
Michael McGill, of Carrigans Pass, appeared at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court on Friday, charged with disorderly behaviour, resisting police, and criminal damage.
The 20-year-old was arrested outside the hospital’s Emergency Department on Tuesday, June 18, last year.
The court heard that McGill became aggressive with police and began resisting arrest, shouting profanities such as “fat b*****d, black and tans, and Protestant b******s” in the vicinity of the very busy Emergency Department.
After McGill was placed in the back of a police vehicle, he spat in the back seat, leading to a further arrest for criminal damage.
The 20-year-old’s defence barrister said his client was a young man who was “very apologetic” for his behaviour, adding that the offences occurred outside the hospital rather than inside.
However, Deputy District Judge Rosie Watters remarked: “Have you been to a hospital recently? Honestly, even going through the entrance of a hospital… the system is breaking down, but it’s not made any better by the police being there.
“I mean, you can’t go into an Emergency Department without there being police there. It’s just not possible. It’s shocking that people… he doesn’t even know why he was at the hospital. I’m just telling you that I find it aggravating that it was in the vicinity of a hospital.”
She added: “I am disgusted that anyone behaves in this way, anywhere in the vicinity of a hospital. I just think it’s shocking.”
However, Judge Watters refrained from handing down a custodial sentence and sentenced McGill to an enhanced combination order, consisting of a period on probation as well as 100 hours of community service.
She concluded: “I don’t want to see you back in court again, and the reason I’m imposing this sentence is so that you get help to deal with your issues, but that you also pay something back to society.
“I mean, if you are back in front of me having done something else in a hospital, I tell you, I won’t be dealing with you in this way at all.”
