Derry teen given a suspended prison sentence for headbutt that a 'Premiership footballer might suffer'
A 19-year-old Derry man has been given a suspended prison sentence for headbutting a security guard in a shopping centre.
Jason Coyle, of Mimosa Court in Derry pleaded guilty to common assault for an incident that took place on August 27, 2015.
The court heard the defendant was given a three-month custodial sentence suspended for eighteen months and fined £300 last Friday, February 17, for assaulting a police officer and breaching a community responsibility order.
The offence from 2015 happened at the Richmond Centre, where Coyle assaulted a security guard by headbutting him when asked to leave the building.
Once shown CCTV footage, the defendant conceded that an argument had taken place and he did ‘push his head forward’ into the security guard.
The prosecutor said ‘it wasn’t the worst headbutt by any means’, but the injured party was left with ‘reddening’ to the area and had a ‘headache for several days’.
Without trying to diminish the seriousness of the offence, defence solicitor, Seamus Quigley, said ‘it was the type a headbutt premiership footballers might suffer from time to time’.
He said his client had become aggressive with security staff because of something that was said to one of his friends.
They went ‘toe-to-toe’ and Coyle accepts he lost his temper, but no injuries were inflicted, added Mr Quigley.
District Judge Barney McElholm sentenced the defendant to two months in prison, suspended for twelve months, and ordered him to pay £100 in compensation to the Injured party.