Man jailed for hitting 16-year-old with Buckfast bottle

A father-of-one who struck a teenager in the face with a Buckfast bottle in an underpass at the Craigavon Lakes was jailed for six months today.
A bottle of BuckfastA bottle of Buckfast
A bottle of Buckfast

Sending 27-year old Jeffery Kelly to prison, Judge Sandra Crawford branded the drunken incident as a “heinous and brutal attack on an entirely innocent youth”.

Kelly, from High Street in Gilford, was handed a two-year sentence and was told he will spend six months in prison, with the remainding 18 months spent on licence.

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She heard the incident occurred on the evening of March 12, 2016, when Kelly clashed with a 16-year-old.

Both the teenager and Kelly had been drinking, and following a verbal confrontation Kelly struck the teenager on the face with the bottle.

It left the teenager with blood dripping down his face, and after being helped from the underpass by a friend he went to hospital where his eye was bandaged.

Crown prosecutor Nicola Auret said when the teenager got home his father took him back to the hospital, where he underwent surgery.

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He sustained a number of injuries, including a broken nose and a fracture around his right eye.

Kelly initially denied involvement, but he later pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and possessing a weapon – namely the bottle of Buckfast.

It also emerged that Kelly came before the court with relevant offences on his criminal record, including using a bicycle as a weapon.

Handing Kelly the two-year sentence, Judge Crawford said it was “through sheer good fortune” that the Buckfast bottle did not smash.