Sang '˜Ronan Kerr going up in the air' at police

A 'hugely aggressive person' who spat in the eyes of a police officer as he was being transported from Dungannon to court has been jailed for two months.

Appearing before a sentencing hearing at East Tyrone Magistrate’s Court was Patrick McMulkin, 19, from Sally’s Wood in Irvinestown.

The court heard how the defendant was in custody at Dungannon Police Station on January 14th on other charges. He was placed in handcuffs and moved to a police cell van to be transported to Strabane Magistrate’s Court when he spat into the eyes of a police officer.

He then began banging his head off the walls of the cell van, spitting around the vehicle, and issuing obscenities.

He was also reported to have been singing a song with the lyrics “Ronan Kerr going up in the air”.

McMulkin’s solicitor told the court how her client had subsequently been sentenced to two prison terms with an expected release date in December.

She said that his offending had been “triggered by substantial drug use” after the loss of a close friend.

Describing the defendant as a “hugely aggressive person”, District Judge John Meehan said, “It is a classic case that a prolonged detention has delivered time (for him) to take benefit of anger management and drugs services.

“The apprehension is that he will get back into a long, sustained period of drugs use (if released).”

He then handed down a two month prison sentence which he ordered run consecutively to his current sentence. A £25 offender’s levy was also imposed.