Sent to prison on assault charges

A combination order imposed on a 34-year-old man was replaced by a period of immediate custody last Wednesday at Craigavon Magistrates Court.

George Matchett, Ballyoran Park, Portadown, had been convicted at the local court on October 18 last year for criminal damage and three common assaults.

He was made the subject of a combination order comprising 12 months on probation and 80 hours community service.

The probation service brought the matter back to court claiming that Matchett breached the order by failing to attend probation appointments and not attending community service.

A barrister representing the defendant said he had psychical and mental health difficulties and would say he had been wrongly medicated but now his medication had been normalised.

He added that Matchett did have a number of problems and had been the victim of assaults.

The lawyer asked the court to consider allowing him to re-engage with probation as he wanted to maintain his liberty.

District Judge, Mrs Bernie Kelly, replaced the combination order with a concurrent three month sentence on each of the charges and ordered him to pay a £25 offender’s levy.

Later in the court Matchett was released on his own bail of £250 to appeal the sentence.

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