Man threatened to throw hot coffee over female staff member at service station in Ballymena
A man who threatened to throw hot coffee over a female staff member at Braid River Service Station in Ballymena has been given a suspended jail sentence.
The defendant appeared at Ballymena Magistrates Court via video link from prison.
Barry Dineen (30), with an address listed as Waveney Road in Ballymena, pleaded guilty to common assault and theft of coffee and buns worth £10 on June 1 this year.
The defendant had failed to pay for the coffee and buns and when challenged, according to a prosecutor, he said: "If you come any closer to me I am going to chuck this hot coffee all over you". It was an "apprehension assault".
He was then barred from the shop but returned on June 15 and lifted a "dessert" which he began eating and he also began drinking an energy drink in the shop. The items were wroth £7.
On May 20 this year he had stolen cigarettes and lemonade worth £17 from a shop. A defence solicitor said the defendant had "no money" and had "taken these items to survive".
The lawyer said Dineen had no intention of assaulting the staff member but apologised for causing her "distress".
The defendant was given a four months prison sentence, suspended for two years. He also has to pay compensation for the stolen items.