Judge warns Derry man about ‘putting his hands on women’

A 24-year-old Derry man has been jailed for six months for assaulting a woman

Sean Grant, of Fergleen Park in the Galliagh area, appeared before Derry Magistrates court charged with disorderly behaviour and resisting police on April 23, 2016.

He was also charged with breaching bail on August 18 last.

The court heard that on that date, police responded to an incident in which a woman alleged Grant had grabbed her around the neck and pushed her against a wall.

The court was told the woman did not wish to press charges against Grant.

When breathalysed, Grant was found to have 118mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath, violating his bail condition of no alcohol.

In a separate incident on April 23, police were on patrol on Water Street when they saw a Grant and woman arguing.

When police approached to intervene, Grant became aggressive and then struggled when being placed under arrest.

He continued to struggle with police and be aggressive en route to the police station.

Police spoke to Grant’s girlfriend but she did not wish to make a complaint against him.

Eoghan Devlin, defence counsel, said that Grant was in breach of a suspended sentence.

He said that Grant had suffered a bereavement and had a history of relying on alcohol.

He added that as a ‘result of his dependency and difficulties he has found himself in contact with police very frequently’ but that he ‘has the capacity to steer himself away from anti-social behaviour’.

District Judge Barney McElholm said: “Police saw what they saw; he is going to have to do something about his anger and his attitude around putting his hands on women.

“If he continues to assault women, I’ll continue to jail him.”

Grant was jailed for six months.

However, he applied for bail to appeal the sentence and was granted his own bail of £750.