Derry mother jailed for five months for racially motivated assault on shopkeeper
Charlene Coyle (40) of Nimosa Court in Derry was appealing against the jail sentence imposed in the Magistrates' Court earlier this year but Judge Neil Rafferty dismissed the appeal and described the original sentence as "entirely appropriate"
A mother of four children, whose ages range from 17 to seven, has been jailed for five months at Derry County Court for a racially motivated assault on a shopkeeper.
Charlene Coyle (40) of Nimosa Court in Derry was appealing against the jail sentence imposed in the Magistrates' Court earlier this year but Judge Neil Rafferty dismissed the appeal and described the original sentence as "entirely appropriate".
Following her arrest for assaulting the shopkeeper, Coyle then spat in the eye of a police officer in the Strand Road PSNI. station.
A barrister for the Public Prosecution Service told Judge Rafferty that at 3am on March 31 of last year Coyle entered the 24/7 shop on the city's Strand Road and proceeded to throw a large quantity of stock onto the floor.
"She entered the shop in an aggressive manner and punched the shopkeeper three times in the face during which she uttered several racist comments", the prosecutor said.
"When arrested and when in custody she spat in the eye of the police officer," she added.
Following her arrest the police found a quantity of diazepam on the appellant.
Defence barrister Sinead Rogan said since her release from custody following her arrest the appellant, who has 18 previous convictions, had been bail compliant and had engaged with professional addiction counsellors.
She said the bail conditions provided Coyle with a helpful structured aspect to her lifestyle.
Dismissing the appeal Judge Rafferty said Coyle had been convicted of a "racially motivated assault on a hard working shopkeeper who was simply trying to earn a living and following her arrest she spat into the eye of a police officer. Both the shopkeeper in his premises and the police officer were providing necessary services to the community".
The five month sentence imposed at the Magistrates' Court also included a four month concurrent sentence when Coyle was convicted of threatening to kill a neighbour on August 22, 2022, by making a throat slitting gesture towards her neighbour.