Man receives prison sentence after word 'paedo' was scraped into paintwork of vehicle in Ballymena
A man with a Ballymena address scraped the word 'paedo' into the paintwork of a person's vehicle, the town’s magistrates court has heard.
A window was also smashed in the vehicle.
David Beech (33), of River View, then assaulted another person during an incident last year.
The court heard that a man said he saw a male banging on the windscreen of the vehicle and the male shouted "you are a paedophile b*stard" before running off.
Another person chased the male and another person down an alleyway and when a scarf fell he recognised the defendant.
The defendant had a small "nail bar" and swung it at the chasing male, hitting him in the ribs.
Meanwhile in June this year, the defendant was disorderly in Ballymena. Police saw Beech and a male fighting. Headbutts and punches were "exchanged," a prosecutor told the court.
The defendant appeared at Ballymena Magistrates' Court via video link from prison on Thursday. He had 59 previous convictions.
District Judge Nigel Broderick said the offences were serious and the defendant had "scored a wholly inappropriate comment" on a vehicle.
The defendant was given a five months prison term but was released on bail pending appeal to an address to be approved by police.