A man who was bare-chested in the middle of a riot in Portadown after going out in the approach to his 21st Birthday and downing two bottles of Buckfast, is set to have his case sent to the Crown Court.
Jamie Smyth, a landscaper, of Derrylileagh Road, near The Birches, made admissions after being charged with rioting on Saturday June 14.
When he actually turned 21 a number of days later he was behind bars on remand.
A PSNI officer told an earlier court the defendant was involved in rioting in the early hours of June 14 when there had been a “sustained” attack on police. Water cannon was deployed.
The defendant had thrown stones at police and had smashed a piece of kerbstone.
At one stage he was observed “stopping traffic” and pulling a bin which was on fire and throwing it onto a road to start a blockade. He was masked at one point.
On another occasion he had no t-shirt on at the “front lines” which “made him easily identifiable” and the “air support unit” was able to watch him. He was arrested near Hart Memorial Primary School.
The officer said when interviewed the defendant made admissions and that he had gone to Portadown “specifically to watch” a “demonstration” and “became heavily involved in it”.
A defence solicitor told the earlier court the defendant made “full admissions” and had expressed disgust in himself”.
The solicitor said: “His explanation for being in Portadown that evening was that he actually went to watch a peaceful demonstration but he was there with a friend and it was his Birthday.
“He said to police that he had consumed two bottles of Buckfast and he wasn’t a usual drinker”.
The solicitor said Smyth has “made full admissions in relation to his guilt”.
He added: “This is an idiot who went out on his Birthday and got very drunk and got involved”.
The case was listed again at Craigavon Magistraes’ Court on Friday. The defendant was further remanded in custody and the case was adjourned to August 29 to fix a date for a preliminary enquiry – the legal step to send the case to the Crown Court.
