20-year-old man sent to the cells at Derry Courthouse today when he refused to stand or confirm his address

A 20-year-old man was sent to the cells at Derry Courthouse today when he refused to stand or confirm his address for the judge. Ryan Callaghan, of Fountain Street in Strabane, is charged with disorderly behaviour for his part in an incident that took place on November 18, 2016. The court heard that on that date, a road user was driving along the Strand Road when she saw two males fighting in the middle of the road. When the witness returned to her vehicle the co-defendant in the case punched the front window. Another unidentified male then ran up and smashed the front driver’s window. Callaghan was arrested for disorderly behaviour after the incident. Deputy District Judge Liam McStay said the case would be taken for four weeks to March 6. When the judge asked the defendant to confirm his address he refused to acknowledge him, he then asked him to ‘stand up’ and Callaghan ignored him once more. Judge McStay then ordered him to be taken down to the cells. The defence solicitor representing Callaghan returned a short time later and told the judge that his client didn’t stand because he ‘sustained a leg injury’ and had shown him the ‘wound’. The judge asked if the leg injury had effected his speech, and said ‘he is in custody because of flagrant contempt of court’. He added, if the defendant didn't apologise and accept the contempt he displayed then he would be brought before another judge. When Callaghan was brought up to the dock he apologised and confirmed his address. He was released and his contempt expunged, and a warning was issued by Judge McStay to ‘behave in future’.