Derry Court: Suspended sentence for man who 'glassed' man at party

A man who glassed another man causing him to need paper stitches in a scalp wound has been given a suspended sentence at Derry Magistrate's Court today.

Adam Mitchell (30) of The Fountain in Derry admitted a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm on a man on August 29 2020.

The court heard that police were called by ambulance staff about a male with head injuries who was the defendant. 

Police attended Altnagelvin Hospital and spoke to Mitchell who told them he had had an argument with another man at a party and had suffered a number of blows to the head.

Police attended the address where the party had been and the homeowner told them that Mitchell had been the aggressor in the case. 

She said the injured party had been 'glassed' by the defendant who had been making sectarian comments and threatening the injured party.

Mitchell was arrested and at interview denied hitting the man with a glass. 

When asked about hitting the man with a glass Mitchell denied this. 

The court heard that a number of Independent witnesses identified Mitchell as the aggressor in the incident. 

Defence counsel Stephen Chapman said that this was 'drunken incident' where both men acted in ways they might not otherwise have done.

He said Mitchell accepted fully that he was the aggressor but added there was no animosity towards the injured party. 

District Judge Barney McElholm said that this was a 'serious incident' but said Mitchell had a clear record and there had been 'no aftermath' in the three years since the incident. 

He sentenced Mitchell to 6 months in prison suspended for 12 months.