Man with address in Lisburn pleads guilty to an assault on police

A man spat on a police officer and called him a "scummy b*stard", Ballymena Magistrates Court heard.
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Mark Gibson (45), with an address at Windermere Pass in Lisburn, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault on police.

A prosecutor said that on January 9 this year police were tasked to an incident and when the defendant was arrested he swore and spat.

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The court heard the police put a mask on the defendant during the incident.

A defence barrister said: "This is a spit on a police officer during a pandemic".

The defence lawyer said police were called to a domestic incident.

He accepted it was an "appalling piece of behaviour".

He said Gibson has been living outside of Ballymena in Lisburn.

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District Judge Nigel Broderick told the defendant, who was in the court, he normally sends people to prison for such offences regarding spitting at police during the pandemic.

He said the "only glimmer of hope" was that it was almost seven years since the defendant was last in court but prior to that he had been a "prolific offender".

However, the judge deferred sentence until November to see if Gibson could stay out of trouble.