Two Derry men convicted of attacking dispatcher at city centre taxi office

Two Derry men who assaulted a taxi dispatcher at his office in the city centre after a night out have been convicted at Derry Magistrates Court.

Co-accused Dean Elliot, 19, of Abbeydale in the Waterside and Richard Lyttle, 29, of Stevenson Park, Tullyally, were jointly charged with assaulting a man on September 16 of last year.

The court heard that a dispatcher was assaulted at a taxi rank on Clarendon Street.

CCTV images shown at Derry Magistrates Court today showed both men following the dispatcher into the office and taking him to the ground.

They were then seen to punch the dispatcher repeatedly along with an unidentified individual.

District Judge Barney McElholm sentenced Lyttle to 140 hours of community service and ordered him to pay the injured party £150.

Elliot was given a four-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay £350 by way of compensation to the injured party.