Judge issues Dungannon man with ‘Russian Roulette’ warning

Staff at Time Bar on James Street in the town, flagged down a passing police patrol after Ryan Mulgrew began shouting at them because he was not being permitted onto the premises during an incident on the night of May 10.

Mulgrew, from Lakeview Cottages, Dungannon, had been barred from the nightclub two weeks previously, East Tyrone Magistrates Court heard, but, despite this, remained intent on gaining entry.

When police confronted Mulgrew about his behaviour, he shouted: “F*** sake! I’ve done nothing wrong”, before telling them he had “studied law”.

Despite being warned about his language, Mulgrew shouted at the officers: “You’re Irish! You’re an Irish pr**k!”.

Mulgrew then proceeded to walk away from the officers, before returning and telling them he was “only messing”.

Mulgrew’s lawyer told the court his client, who has previous public order offences on his record, had been at a house party with friends on the evening in question and was “clearly intoxicated”.

In his remarks, District Judge, John Meehan, dismissed Mulgrew’s claim that he had misread a letter confirming an appointment with probation officers to compile a pre-sentence report in the case, and added: “You have decided to play Russian Roulette. You have decided to treat the Probation Service and courts as stupid. You claim to have failed to read the letter right even though you have studied law. There is no chance of you simply being fined for this disgraceful behaviour. If you get tanked up again like this, you will be going to prison.”

Mulgrew was sentenced to two months in custody, suspended for two years, and fined a total of £250 in respect of the incident, as well as a charge of breaching bail.