Man sentenced for calling blind neighbour 'Orange b*****d' and threatening to shoot him

Bernard Christopher Pratt (71) was sentenced on charges of making a threat to damage property and breaching a restraining order.

He pleaded guilty to the offences which happened on September 5, 2023.

A charge of making a threat to kill was dismissed.

The defendant, with an address listed as Fairway in Larne, was sentenced in relation to the September 5 incidents which happened when he lived in another part of the town.

Ballymena Magistrates' Court was told he had a previous record which District Judge Nigel Broderick said was "not insignificant".

A prosecutor said the around 8.50pm on September 5, a then-neighbour of Pratt's told police the defendant had shouted "sectarian abuse" towards him from a bedroom window.

The defendant had shouted: "You Orange b*****d, I'm going to shoot you, and I'll burn your house down."

The man said Pratt also referred to a named woman as a "wh*re".

The prosecutor said the man is blind and "he was in fear of the defendant and was concerned that he wouldn't be able to defend himself against him should anything happen".

The woman also heard Pratt shouting and heard the "wh*re" reference about her and "felt that breached the restraining order".

The court was told the defendant now no longer lives in the area where the incidents happened but moved elsewhere in Larne.

A defence lawyer said the defendant had issues with the misuse of alcohol and "he doesn't have a very clear recollection of this incident".

Judge Broderick said the man verbally abused by Pratt was "blind" and was described as "vulnerable".

He said the defendant had not re-offended during a deferral period and the judge handed down a five months prison term, suspended for two years.

Restraining orders are also in place.