Man threw beer bottles in air in Sainsburys causing them to smash on floor

Thomas Stewart (34), with an address listed as Wakehurst Road in the town, committed criminal damage on June 4, 2019.

A prosecutor told Ballymena Magistrates Court that when he was refused permission the defendant said he would get somebody else to get beer for him.

An older man then attempted to purchase the “same beer” and was refused.

At that stage Stewart re-entered the store and lifted the beer from a basket and threw it into the air causing it to smash on the floor.

The court also heard that on May 29 last year police searched the defendant’s address and found one gramme of cannabis. He admitted a possession charge.

Defence solicitor Stewart Ballentine said the defendant was “petrol bombed out of his house”.

He said the defendant advised him he has been “clean of drugs for some time” and is working with “Community Addictions and Mental Heath”.

Mr Ballentine said at the time of the offence Stewart had been using the drug to “try and get to sleep”.

He said the defendant was “all to well aware of the dangers of drugs” as a family member had died.

The defendant was given a two months prison term, suspended for one year.