Tried to steal vodka and assaulted man

Craig Steele, Greenhill Park, Lurgan, was sentenced last Wednesday at Craigavon Magistrates Court for the theft of the drink on March 30 last year and assault.

For each offence he was given 100 hours community service and ordered to pay £150 compensation to the person he assaulted.

The court heard that police received a report of a theft at the Lidl store in Lurgan.

CCTV showed the defendant attempting to steal two bottles of vodka, valued at £21.98, and when a member of staff tried to stop him Steele swung at him and struck him on the left temple.

The case had been adjourned from a previous court so that a pre-sentence report could be obtained.

A barrister for Steele said he had a very short record and had received a suspended sentence.

She explained that the defendant had a problem with alcohol but had now been sober for seven months. He was drunk at the time of this incident.

Steele had been given a six month jail sentence, suspended for two years, for a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm

The barrister added that there was nothing further in the pipeline.