A Lurgan man who admitted sexually assaulting two 14-year-old girls has walked free from court.
Ian Burnie, of Charles Baron Gardens, Lurgan, pled guilty at Downpatrick Magistrates’ Court to sexually assaulting the teenage girls in Killyleagh, Co Down, on February 10, 2023.
The 50-year-old was handed a combination order of 100 hours of community service and probation for a period of two years.
He was also slapped with a restraining order and will be placed on the sex offenders’ register for the next five years.
A Sexual Offences Prevention Order was also made prohibiting him from working with young people and to stop him from “frequenting or loitering in places associated with child centred activities such as schools, playgrounds, amusements arcades or other places which by their nature are likely to be solely or mainly frequented by children or young persons without the prior notification to and approval of the designated risk manager”.
Speaking after the sentence, one of the victim’s mother told Armagh I: “I feel that my daughter has been robbed of her childhood and that she suffers the after effects.
“This man, with a long history of violence, is free to go ahead and do this again and I feel the justice system needs to crack down on people like this.”
