Cookstown woman’s ‘liberty at risk’ for obstructing police following domestic incident

East Tyrone Magistrates Court heard how police attended the scene following a report of a domestic incident in the Cookstown area on November 27 last year.

They were met by the defendant, Patricia Mulholland, 42, from Tullagh View who alleged that her husband had head butted her, striking her in the nose.

The police noted, however, that there was no obvious marks or injuries to the defendant’s face.

The officers then spoke to her husband who, due to his becoming “agitated”, was arrested and an attempt was made to place him in custody.

He immediately began shouting to his wife and saying that he did not want to go to the station.

Mrs Mulholland then got in the way of the officers, placing herself between them and her husband, preventing them from completing their arrest.

She further retracted her allegation of assault while continuing to impede the officers from carrying out their duty.

Her husband then threw himself on the floor in an effort to avoid arrest.

A solicitor for the defendant told the court that his client was aware that she was in breach of a suspended sentence imposed in February.

Deputy District Judge Kennedy added that Mrs Mulholland’s liberty was “very much at risk” and ordered a pre-sentence report for March 27.