Dungannon man jailed for racist abuse called victim a ‘n****r’ and an ‘oompa-loompa’

A man who shouted racist abuse in Dungannon has been jailed for three months, a court has heard.
Dungannon Courthouse TT0509-JS112Dungannon Courthouse TT0509-JS112
Dungannon Courthouse TT0509-JS112

Noel McLaughlin, 31, whose address is Clonmore Road in Dungannon, is a serving prisoner at HMP Magilligan and was due to be released on May 9.

However, after being found guilty of disorderly behaviour, he will remain in prison for an extra three months.

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East Tyrone Magistrate’s Court heard how police were called to Tesco in Dungannon on the evening of April 26 by a 999 call.

Police discovered the defendant drinking a bottle of wine and sporting a bleeding lip.

The constables were told how an altercation had broken out in the shopping centre toilets after the defendant had called another man a “n****r”.

At the scene, Mr McLaughlin had admitted using the word adding that as a response the injured party had “cracked me one”.

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When asked if he would like to make a formal complaint about the assault he initially declined and called the injured party an “oompa-loompa”.

Mr Blaine Nugent, defending, told the court that since the offence there had been a “deceleration of offending” on the part of his client.

District Judge Bernadette Kelly said. “I am certifying this as a hate crime fuelled by racism.

“This type of behaviour cannot be accepted in this society ... caused only by the accident of one’s birth ... and there is only one course of action,” she told the defendant and handed down a sentence of two months in prison.

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Judge Kelly further activated a suspended prison sentence of one month and ordered that it run consecutively to the first sentence “in hope of some sort of rehabilitation, but I doubt it” she added.

Judge Kelly further imposed a £25 fine for a charge of breaching bail and also imposed a court offender’s levy of £25.

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