East Tyrone Magistrates Courthouse
AN Enniskillen defendant who verbally abused the judge at East Tyrone Magistrates Court after being denied bail, was ordered to serve seven days in jail for contempt.
The accused, Brendan Martin Gerard McLaughlin (23), from Feddans Road, Enniskillen, appeared jointly with Mark Alexander Lynch from Edinburgh Park, Omagh, charged with stealing a car after burgling a house in Omagh, and entering a house as trespassers on August 20.
It is further alleged they stole a set of keys and took a car without authority.
McLaughlin is further accused of having a pair of scissors for use in theft, and Lynch is also accused of driving without a licence or insurance.
A detective constable told the court she believed all charges could be connected. She said the PSNI were opposed to bail as both men had ‘significant’ previous records.
The court was told that McLaughlin was currently on licence until January 2015, and that he had been arrested and bailed three times in the last few months for various offences. They included criminal damage, assisting offenders and two burglaries.
Both are alleged to have breached curfews in the past.
When a defence solicitor applied for bail for both clients, District Judge John Meehan ruled that the risk of re-offending and failing to abide by terms was too great.
As the pair were being led from the dock. McLaughlin shouted to a number of people seated in the public gallery: “He can stick his bail up his a**e,” before turning to Judge Meehan and saying: “You’re a ball bag.”
Custody staff were then ordered to take McLaughlin to the cells for a short consultation with his solicitor before being brought back to court to be dealt with for contempt.
Some 10 minutes later, McLaughlin was returned to the dock, and his solicitor said his instructions were that the outburst had been caused by the stress of the charges.
But, Judge Meehan rejected this defence as, “victim culture”.
He told McLaughlin: “I’ve made it perfectly clear anyone who thinks they are on a free-run to do and say what they like, having been refused bail, is very wrong.”
McLaughlin was ordered to serve seven days in jail for contempt of court.
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