Suspended jail sentence for Co Tyrone man who punched hotfood takeaway customer
A Co Tyrone man who punched another male who was standing with him at a counter in a Coalisland hot food takeaway, was given a seven-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, at Dungannon Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
Thirty-eight-year-old Shaun Pio O'Neill, from Moyallen Terrace, Coalisland, was also ordered to pay the victim £500 compensation arising out of the incident.
O'Neill was convicted of unlawfully and maliciously wounding the injured party on August 11, 2024.
Passing sentence, District Judge Francis Rafferty told him he had no history of violence and had actually assaulted someone he knew.
The judge warned O’Neill not to be drinking to excess and not to get into any arguments.
"If you lift your hand to anyone over the next two years you are going to jail,” he added.
Prosecuting counsel said the injured party was in the carry out at approximately 10pm when the defendant entered and began speaking to him at the counter.
The lawyer said O'Neill then punched him, leaving a deep laceration above his eye, and the incident was captured on CCTV.
The defendant later gave a no comment interview to all questions put to him by the police.
A defence lawyer said for a man of the defendant’s age to come before the court is unacceptable and that fact is not lost on him.
He stressed that O'Neill came has a clear record apart for a driving matter. The lawyer added that at the time of the incident his alcohol intake was up.