Cookstown man lashed out in anger

David Mark Cunningham, whose address was given as Riverside Drive, admitted a charge of criminal damage on September 5 this year.

District Judge Michael Ranaghan also imposed a restraining order on the 23-year-old banning him from going near his mother’s address for the next 12 months.

The court heard it was reported to police that the defendant had kicked and damaged a kitchen door and this had been witnessed by a lodger.

Prosecuting counsel said Cunningham was arrested and taken to Antrim custody suite, where he told police he had a verbal argument with his mother and had lashed out at the door in anger and had not intended to cause the damage.

The lawyer added the damage to the door was estimated at £40.

Defence lawyer Craig Patton said the defendant had been jailed for three months by another court on September 27 for an incident in which he threw a tennis ball at his grandmother’s head.

Mr Patton said Cunningham keeps going back to his mother and grandmother because he has nobody else to look after him and, unfortunately, he has “burned his bridges” with those people.

He added that the defendant had paid his mother back for the damage he had caused to the kitchen door.

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