Co Down man (47) shouted ‘Up the Ra’ and ‘IRA’ as he was being arrested following domestic incident, Craigavon court hears
A Co Down man shouted ‘Up the Ra’ and ‘IRA’ before telling family members, who were trying to calm him down, to ‘shut the f**k up’, a court hears.
Gareth William Brian Haslem, aged 47, from Broomhill Courtyard, Magheralin, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
He pleaded guilty to assaulting police and disorderly behaviour.
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Police were tasked to the Malcolmson Park area of Magheralin on March 4 this year at around 7.45pm after a 999 call in relation to a "domestic matter”.
"Police arrived a short time later and observed people standing outside the address including the defendant,” said a Prosecutor.
"As police approached the defendant he stated he would kill them both,” she revealed, adding the defendant appeared intoxicated.
"The defendant continued to be confrontational and, at one time, tried to get right into the face of one of the officers as he lunged towards him in an aggressive manner,” she said.
When he was told he was going to be arrested he struggled as officers tried to put handcuffs on him and he was brought to the ground although he continued to struggle until they eventually cuffed him.
They tried to roll the defendant onto his side to make him more comfortable but Haslem "kicked out with his feet making contact with one of the officer’s shins’”.
While waiting for a cell van to take the defendant to custody, he began to shout repeatedly “IRA” and “Up the Ra”.
When relatives attempted to calm him down he shouted "Shut the f**k up”.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan told Haslem’s solicitor, Mr Peter Murphy, that while his client’s record is “not particularly relevant” the “incident itself is significant”.
"There’s prolonged misbehaviour with police. Certainly the custody threshold is open,” he said.
"Police should not be subjected to this type of behaviour. They should not expect it and you should not be doing it Mr Haslem. It’s a very serious matter but you get the benefit of a Pre Sentence Report,” said the District Judge telling him to make sure he attends his appointments with Probation.
The case was adjourned until May 13.