Lurgan man's '˜hopeless' compassionate bail plea rejected

Kieran Lavery, 21, appeared at Craigavon Magistrates’ Court via video link from Maghaberry Prison where his solicitor asked for him to be freed for a few hours on Saturday to attend his partner’s son’s first communion.

Lavery is in custody charged with three offences – taking part in an affray and directing violence towards a named female police officer, causing that officer actual bodily harm and possessing a weapon, namely a stone, on the Levin Road in Lurgan on March 28.

Objecting to the temporary bail release, a police officer told the court the charges arise after a police woman sustained a cracked rib when she was punched and kicked to the ground during Easter Rising commemorations.

He claimed Lavery was captured on a helicopter’s camera attacking a police Land Rover and the female officer, adding that police feared that if released, even for a short time, Lavery might abscond and then commit further crimes.

Lavery, from Meadowbrook in Tullygally, claims however that he was standing to the side as a mere spectator, eating a takeaway.

Denouncing the application as “hopeless,” Deputy District Judge Gerald Trainor said the risk of further offences was too great given his significant criminal record, and he had a duty “to protect the public”.