Craigavon man pleads guilty to punching another man outside a Portadown pub
A Craigavon man has pleaded guilty to punching a man outside a pub in Portadown.
Jamie Burns, aged 25, from Clonmeen, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
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An ‘agreed statement of facts’ was read to the court outlining the events of Sunday July 31, 2022. A Prosecutor said that at around 12.05am police were on mobile patrol in the Portadown area, driving passed McKeever’s Bar in Woodhouse Street.
"Police observed a group of people standing at the front of the bar. Due to police presence two females and two males began to walk away in the direction of Woodhouse Street/High Street,” said the Prosecutor.
They spotted an injured man sitting on the ground slumped against the shutter of McKeever’s Bar. He identified himself and told police he’d been assaulted. He provided police a description of the suspect.
Police found a man matching the description in Woodhouse Street in Portadown who identified himself as the defendant. After caution Mulligan told police: “I only banged him once.”
The injured man was taken to Craigavon Hospital where tenderness to left side of the complainant’s face with associated bruising to his left eyebrow and cheek was observed. Initially Craigavon Hospital noted facial fractures but no fractures were discovered in a follow up consultation at St James’ Hospital in Dublin.
"The investigating officer was therefore unable to confirm the precise nature of the injuries," said the Prosecutor, adding the defendant, during a second interview, accepted he hit the complainant once.
"He had approached the defendant in what was perceived to have been an aggressive manner and the defendant reacted by punching him once. This is not disputed,” said the Prosecutor.
Burns’ barrister said his client had been “trouble free” since this incident.
"He had been out socialising in a pub. There were issues with this gentleman (the complainant) over the course of the night. It is accepted there was aggression displayed by the complainant on the night in question. He was punched once in what I would describe as something that has gone beyond self defence,” said the barrister.
"There were no actions taken after, such as kicking on the ground or further blows,” said the barrister, adding that his client could have run this as a contest on a self-defence point but he simply didn’t want to take that chance.
"It’s a one punch case, nothing more. It’s accepted everyone had drink on board. The complainant, we would suggest, wasn’t behaving appropriately towards Mr Burns but Mr Burns’ reaction wasn’t appropriate either. He knows using his fists is not a solution in these circumstances,” said the barrister.
"He accepts he should have walked away,” said the lawyer, adding he has shown remorse. “Since this incident he has made great strides in his life.”
“2022 seems to have been the turning point in this young man’s life. He lives with his parents and has regular contact with his four-year-old son,” said the barrister, adding he has recently got a job as an acting manager at a men’s clothes shop.
"He hasn’t touched an illicit substance since 2022 and has been abstinent from alcohol for six months," he added.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan sentenced Burns to a nine months Probation Order including 60 hours Community Service.