Craigavon court judge tells Lurgan woman she should be ashamed of herself for spitting at her neighbour
“You should be ashamed. I’ve seen that footage. It was disgusting behaviour,” said a judge sentencing a woman who spat at her neighbour during a dispute.
Aoife O’Hare, aged 26, from Lurgan Tarry, Lurgan, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court, via a video link from her solicitor’s office, charged with common assault.
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District Judge Michael Ranaghan revealed that he had convicted O’Hare ‘on the papers’ for common assault having dismissed a charge of criminal damage.
The court heard that on August 23 last year at around 5.45pm, police received a complaint from a woman who claimed O’Hare was outside her property.
"She went out to investigate and was accosted by the defendant. She was verbally abusive and confrontational and she moves into the complainant’s personal space and spits on her jacket,” said the prosecutor.
When police found the defendant she denied she was in the street and had spat at the complainant. “She denied she had squared up and there was any kind of confrontation," said the prosecutor, adding that the defendant was wearing the same clothes as described by the complainant.
O’Hare’s barrister Mr Conor Lunny said: “She is ashamed of her actions. She was caught on mobile phone footage by another neighbour who was alert to the dispute because what happened was the injured party actually approached the defendant’s own house to confront her about another allegation.
"It caused some local interest and the neighbours came out and Your Worship would have seen that video. It doesn’t speak very much of her as a person. She is ashamed,” said Mr Lunny, adding that O’Hare has a limited record.
He added that his client had moved away from the Banbridge area and the estate in which this happened. “She has no desire or need to see her again so there is no fear of any reoccurrence,” he said.
The District Judge Ranaghan said: “Firstly you should be ashamed. I’ve seen that footage. It was disgusting behaviour. Had that spit landed on the actual face of your victim there would be only one outcome for you today.”
He sentenced O’Hare to three months in prison suspended for 12 months.