Derry Court: Man ordered to pay £900 for assaulting police and told he should ‘mind his own business now’

When a neighbour who 'he didn't know terribly well' was being arrested a Derry man decided to intervene the local Magistrate's Court heard today and it cost him almost £1,000.

Matthew Quigley (37) of Fern Park in Derry admitted two counts of assaulting police on September 10 last year.

The court heard that police were arresting a person in Fern Park who was resisting and struggling with police. 

Quigley then intervened and pushed at officers causing one to fall over. 

Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley said that there were no drink or drugs involved in the incident. 

He said the only explanation he could offer was that the defendant had just returned from a funeral and was in 'a dark place'.

District Judge Barney McElholm said that one of the police officers had had to seek medical attention. 

He fined Quigley £400 for the assaults and ordered him to pay £500 in compensation adding 'maybe mind his own business now.'