Jail sentence for assault on his wife

Gareth Keith McLoughlin said he had no solicitor and pleaded guilty to a number of offences.

District Judge, Mrs Bernie Kelly, said she would adjourn the case until March 20 to get a pre-sentence report.

She asked McLoughlin if he still lived at the address on the summons, Charles Baron Gardens, Lurgan. He said he had no fixed abode and worked in Scotland.

The court heard that on December 13, 2017, police were called to a disturbance at Rectory Park.

The injured party said there had been a row with her husband about him contacting other women.

She claimed he forced her against a door and she received a bruise on her head and a scrape.

The victim told police he had he had got into a van and did not have a licence.

Police traced the van to outside another address and the defendant was inside. He co-operated with police and produced a phone which belonged to the injured party. His licence had expired.

Judge Kelly said domestic violence was taken very seriously by the courts and with no pre-sentence report available the offences were so serious there was only one penalty she could impose.

For making a false statement in June 2017 to obtain a certificate of insurance she imposed a fine of £300 and for not having a licence she fined him £100 and banned him from driving for six months.

Concurrent two month prison sentences were handed down for assault on a female and the theft of a mobile phone.