Had vacuum cleaner pipe down trousers

Laimus Butrus, Dill Avenue, Lurgan, admitted possession of an offensive weapon, a metal pipe, in a public place on November 19 last year.

The court heard that at 6am police received a report of an ongoing burglary at Dill Avenue where four or five foreign nationals had forced their way into a house.

Police saw them in Rectory Road and one of them pointed out the defendant, claiming Butrus had hit him over the head with an iron bar. No statement of complaint was made by the injured party to police.

The defendant was found with the iron bar on his person.

A solicitor representing Butrus said that police were called to an attempted burglary at the defendant’s home.

He explained his client was in bed and when he looked outside he saw four males.

One of them shouted for him to come down and sort this out as he had insulted his mother.

The solicitor added that when Butrus opened the door he was punched in the face and he found a metal attachment of a hoover in the garden. He was hit by a bottle and he then hit this man over the head. He said that when police arrived Butrus had the metal pipe down his trousers.

The solicitor said that his client had been convicted in his absence although he had been in court all day and only approached the solicitor at around 5pm.

Deputy District Judge Chris Holmes imposed an absolute discharge.