Belfast man jailed for attack on tourists in city centre
A Belfast man who took part in an attack on two tourists in the city centre has been jailed for seven months.
Connil Rice, 34, punched one of the victims in the face during a night time encounter in the Royal Avenue area, a judge was told.
It was accepted, however, that his involvement was not aggravated by racial hostility.
Rice, of Oisin House on Victoria Parade, pleaded guilty to charges of common assault and disorderly behaviour.
He was arrested along with three co-defendants after police were alerted to a group of people fighting at Royal Avenue on October 28 last year.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard CCTV footage showed Rice approach one of the two men and punch him in the face. As scuffling broke out he called on the other suspects to get involved.
A female co-accused then allegedly shouted racist slurs at the two tourists, with police claiming they were called “Pakis” and “traffickers”. Prosecutors confirmed that part of the incident is being treated as a hate crime.
Defence counsel Michael Boyd accepted it was a serious case which attracted widespread media attention at the time.
He told the court his client had been drinking and got into a row with one of the victims before any alleged abuse was shouted at them by a co-defendant.
Two women and another man are still being prosecuted on charges connected to the same incident.
Mr Boyd submitted: “Others became involved when the matter got worse and spiralled out of control, but Mr Rice’s role in that was limited.
“He knows that he has had big difficulties with drink and drugs, spending too much time on the streets in Belfast and getting himself involved in these altercations.”
Rice also admitted a separate charge of disorderly behaviour in connection with a mass brawl on Royal Avenue earlier that month.
CCTV cameras identified the defendant running down to join in the fight outside a Starbucks coffee shop on October 3, the court heard.
The footage showed Rice and another man kicking and punching each other in front of onlookers.
Imposing a total sentence of seven months custody, District Judge Natasha Fitzsimons told him: “I acknowledge the prosecution accept your offending was not aggravated by hostility.”