Dungannon man jailed following attack on police '˜trapped in a bedroom'

The court heard how Sean McDowell, 25, from Ballygawley Road, had played a part in an attack on a policeman alongside another male and his then girlfriend on October 23.

During the fight, McDowell kicked out at one officer and, following his arrest, caused two further officers to injure their knees.

The court also heard how they attended the scene of an incident at a Ballygawley Road residence at 6.30am on November 18.

The defendant, Sean McDowell, answered the door but refused entry to the police.

They noted signs that he had been drinking alcohol in breach of his bail conditions.

During his arrest he kicked out at the constables, assaulting them.

“My client went AWOL, went to ground for two months,” Mr Craig Patton, defending, told the court.

“This was purely because he knew that a custodial sentence was inevitable.

“He has made some changes (since then). He has moved away from the area and is with a new partner.

“For him to not come to the attention (of police) in that period... convinces me that he is attempting to lead a settled life with his partner and her child.”

Handing down a sentences of two months and six months which he ordered run consecutively, District Judge John Meehan said: “These two offences pass the custodial threshold on their own terms.

“Police were trapped in a bedroom and you all three waded in.

“You used all available violence that you could bring to bear.”

He also imposed a third sentence of one month for the breach of bail.