Co Antrim man with 'appalling record' escapes jail after admitting disorderly behaviour at parade
A Co. Antrim man with an “appalling record” narrowly escaped going to jail today after he admitted using disorderly behaviour at a band parade.
Imposing a five month prison sentence on Sam Robinson but suspending it for two years, District Judge Nigel Broderick warned the 29-year-old “you are walking a tight line.”
“If you cross that line, the court will have no hesitation in imposing this sentence and send you back to prison,” the judge told him.
Robinson, from Spencer Crescent in Cullybackey, had earlier entered guilty pleas to disorderly behaviour, resisting police and using fireworks without a licence.
A prosecuting lawyer told Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, it was on 17 May this year when police were on parade duties on the North Road in Ballymena when they spotted a male running around with a lit flare in his hand.
The plumes of blue smoke emanating from it was annoying parade spectators and was obscuring the view of drivers, said the lawyer.
When officers tried to escort Robinson away from the area, the 29-year-old “dropped to the ground and refused to stand.”
“He started shouting ‘spray me, spray me’ as police made attempts to stand him up but he was actively resisting and pulled away,” the lawyer said.
As Robinson continued to refuse to comply with the officers’ instructions, he told them “watch, I will destroy you” before throwing himself down and trying to bang his own head off the ground several times.
“He proceeded to swear and shout in the street, despite multiple warnings,” said the lawyer, adding that despite being handcuffed, Robinson “attempted to choke himself” and eventually, officers had to put him in limb restraints.
Defence counsel Alan Stewart told the court Robinson had bought the blue flare from a stall “just outside the police station,” and conceding that he has “an appalling record” of 157 previous convictions, “I think the best point I can make is that he is engaging…to address his deep-seated issues” over drink and drug addictions.
In addition to the five month suspended jail sentence, Judge Broderick also imposed a £150 fine.