Defendant was '˜being a mouth', court told

Appearing before a sentencing hearing at East Tyrone Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday was Tiernan Devlin, 22, from Station Road.

He admitted one charge of disorderly behaviour while an accusation of breach of bail was withdrawn by the PPS.

Police reported receiving a report of a group of males drinking on Irish Street in Dungannon around 2am on October 3rd last year.

The constables asked them to move on and when the defendant, one of their number, did not respond, one officer tapped him on the shoulder.

He responded aggressively and shouted, “Don’t f**king touch me or I’ll smash your face in.”

When the police reiterated their direction for him to move on he again became abusive.

“Go on. Make me. See what happens,” he was reported to have told the constables and continued to refuse to leave the area.

Mr Fintan McAleer, defending, told the court that judgement had been deferred to see if his client, who works at an engineering firm, could remain offence free.

“He has committed no further offences since,” Mr McAleer told the court but confirmed that he had been interviewed by police for assault, a charge he denies.

Mr McAleer said that on the day in question Mr Devlin was “being a mouth”.

District Judge John Meehan accepted this and handed down a fine of £250.