Man jailed for punching a member of staff at city centre bank
A Belfast man who punched a member of staff at a city centre bank has been jailed for four months.
Joey Coleman also tried to headbutt and spit on PSNI officers who detained him shortly after the alcohol-fuelled attack.
The 26-year-old, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to common assault and two counts of assault on police.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard Coleman entered a staff-only area at the Ulster Bank’s Donegall Square East headquarters shortly after 9am on August 27 last year.
He was asked to leave by one of the employees who began escorting him out of the building.
“The defendant squared up the injured party in a boxing stance and then threw a punch, striking him on the ear,” a prosecution lawyer said. “He threw a couple more punches without connecting before leaving.”
No physical injuries were sustained by the man he attacked.
When police stopped Coleman a short time later he was in a highly intoxicated state, the court heard.
He then attempted to headbutt one officer and had to be taken to the ground, where his legs were bound during a struggle. The prosecutor added: “He also spat at an officer who was not sure if it hit him.”
With Coleman already in custody for a separate case, a defence barrister attributed his crimes to drinking and taking drugs.
“He has never been arrested when he is sober, he knows that is the key in going forward to prevent any further offending,” counsel submitted.
District Judge Anne Marshall ordered Coleman to serve four months in prison consecutive to any current sentence.
She told him: “This is a bad incident where you have punched a member of staff at the bank and you’ve spat at the police.”