Man who phoned 999 to say he had ‘beat the f***’ out of partner is jailed

A man who phoned 999 to declare he had “beat the f***” out of his partner has been jailed for four months.
Belfast Magistrates' CourtBelfast Magistrates' Court
Belfast Magistrates' Court

Michael Andrade claimed the woman deserved it for allegedly stealing from him, Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old, of Essex Street in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, also kicked a PSNI officer driving him into custody, forcing the car to come to a halt.

Andrade pleaded guilty to common assault, assault on police, attempted criminal damage and having Class B and C drugs.

Officers were alerted to disturbances at the woman’s address in Carrickfergus on February 19 this year.

“She said he had been shouting at her, calling her ‘tramp’ before he kicked and punched her repeatedly,” a Crown lawyer told the court.

The woman had a cut lip, bruised arms and told police that she was sore all over.

According to the prosecution a man calling himself Michael phoned 999 that night to claim he was responsible.

“He said he had ‘beat the f***’ out of a girl, and that she deserved it because she stole from him,” the lawyer disclosed.

With checks confirming the call came from Andrade’s mobile, he was located and arrested at his home address.

En route to custody he kicked out and struck the driver of the police car, forcing it to stop on the Manse Road due to safety concerns.

When the vehicle eventually arrived at a PSNI station Andrade repositioned himself on the back seat and repeatedly kicked the windows.

He was taken out of the car and demanded a cigarette, the court heard, trying to kick its headlights after the request was refused.

During searches 30 Diazepam tablets and a small bag of cannabis were found in his pockets.

Defence counsel Conn O’Neill acknowledged the offences were “not impressive”, but argued Andrade deserved credit for his early admissions.

“It’s an incident which he self-reported himself,” the barrister stressed.

“This is a man who was in the grip of drugs at the time, with bizarre and erratic behaviour towards police.”

However, District Judge Fiona Bagnall held: “The circumstances of the assault are particularly bad.

“It passes the custody threshold, there will be a total of four months (imprisonment).”