Portadown man, who broke a chair and assaulted police at Craigavon Hospital, has narrowly escaped a jail sentence

Garry Ryan, aged 47, from Hanover Street, Portadown, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court on Wednesday charged with criminal damage, disorderly behaviour and assaulting police.

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A Prosecutor said around 11.30pm on March 15 last year police were at Craigavon Area Hospital dealing with a patient. The Prosecutor added: “The defendant was an unrelated person but present at the hospital. When a constable walked passed him to deal with the matter he was involved in, the defendant shoved the constable in the back."

When police approached the defendant they were shouted t with “the usual diatribe” and a nurse came to calm the defendant down but this “was to no avail”. Several hospital staff and patients were in earshot.

“He was warned on a number of occasions about his behaviour and language. He then slapped the arms of an officer on a number of occasions and grabbed another constable saying ‘I’ll f**king knock you out, you pr**k,’” the Prosecutor said.

He was arrested and taken to the ground “in a controlled manner” and handcuffed. The consultant at the Emergency Department was “happy to discharge him as a result of his behaviour and that he was refusing treatment”. A staff nurse told police the defendant had broken a chair and was further arrested for criminal damage.

The Prosecutor said during interview the defendant accepted he lost his temper and broken the chair. He told police he would contact the hospital and arrange to pay for the damage. The constable involved was not injured during the incident which captured in its entirety on CCTV.

The court was told that Ryan has no record and there has been no reports of offending since this incident. Ryan’s solicitor said that his client had contacted the hospital but they said they didn’t want reimbursement for the chair.

He said Ryan had referred himself to Sr Consilio’s in Newry and has been through the entire treatment programme. “He paid for that himself. It wasn’t via his GP. He has taken steps himself to deal with any issues he has with substance misuse. He is currently engaging with Praxis and Extern. He is trying to move forward in his life.”

District Judge Michael Ranaghan said police and hospital staff should not have to put up with this type of behaviour. “People in this jurisdiction are quite lucky that our police service do show some considerable restraint in dealing with people who are acting disorderly.”

The District Judge referred to Ryan’s past and “historic events” and the impact it had on him. He said he wouldn’t send him to jail but instead deal with him by way of a Combination Order with a 12-month Probation supervision order and ordered him to carry out 80 hours of Community Service.

He said if he did breach either element of the order he would return to court where he will be given four months immediate custody. "The onus is very much on you,” said the District Judge.