Man who calls the streets of Lurgan and Craigavon his home, kicked a PSNI car in attempt to get arrested, court hears
‘Home for him is wherever he puts his head’ a 57-year-old man’s barrister told a Craigavon court after his client admitted trying to get arrested.
Mark Mulholland, aged 57, of no fixed abode, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court via video link from Maghaberry Prison, charged with attempted criminal damage.
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Police were approached by Mulholland on April 1, 2025 at Craigavon Area Hospital’s Emergency Department. He told them he wanted to be arrested.
Mulholland was in hospital for a medical complaint and was “upset he had not been seen”, the court heard.
"He believed he was not being taken seriously by medical staff,” said a prosecutor.
When police didn’t arrest him he “started running in front of cars”. At some stage, while he was engaging with police, he asked if he kicked a police vehicle would he be arrested.
"The defendant then approached the parked police vehicle and kicked the rear door twice. He then further attempted to kick the rear of the vehicle but his foot didn’t make contact. No damage was caused,” said the prosecutor, adding Mulholland admitted attempted criminal damage but said he didn’t wish to cause any damage.
Mulholland’s barrister Mr Damien Halleron, instructed by Gerard Maguire Solicitors, told District Judge Michael Ranaghan that this incident put his client in breach of a suspended sentence.
"This was an unfortunate set of events,” said Mr Halleron, revealing Mulholland had been dealt with earlier that day at Craigavon but was told he wasn’t going to be admitted.
The barrister said Mulholland is an “itinerant living on the streets”.
“He has nowhere to go and has no contact with his family,” said Mr Halleron.
"He accepts he was intending to cause damage because he wanted to be arrested simply because he’s had enough of being on the streets and, in his view, wasn’t being taken seriously by the medical staff,” he said.
"It’s unusual in that he caused absolutely no damage whatsoever. The difficulty is he has nowhere to go. He didn’t perfect his bail. He doesn’t have an extensive criminal record. He has just found himself, in his late middle age, as a homeless person with nowhere to go other than the streets of Lurgan and Craigavon. I would ask Your Worship to give him a degree of compassion,” said the barrister.
"This man came from a good background. He came from a good family. He had a job at one stage but he has just fallen by the wayside and it’s unfortunate.”
He explained this was not a case where an offence was committed while he was a patient. “It was simply in the grounds of the hospital where the police were actually trying to take him home but, of course, home for him is anywhere he puts his head.”
District Judge Michael Ranaghan said he wasn’t keen on some people who tried to decide if they wanted to be in prison or for how long. “We have a regular flyer who does that but this man (Mulholland) is in a markedly different position.”
The district judge sentenced Mulholland one month in custody for the charge before the court and activated two months of the three-month suspended sentence.
District Judge Ranaghan said it would give Mulholland “some additional time in custody” to get help regarding his homelessness situation.