Man told police he would 'take them out' - court

Thomas Dundon (46) admitted a charge of disorderly behaviour following an incident in The Diamond area of Ballycastle at 11.25pm on Saturday August 28, North Antrim Magistrates Court in Coleraine was told on Wednesday of last week.

A prosecutor said police on public order duty were called to a disturbance outside a nightclub and they found the defendant, who was heavily intoxicated, arguing with door staff.

When police told him to calm down he told officers he would “take them out”.

A defence solicitor said the offence happened around the time of the Lammas Fair and he said the problem was that his client is on quite a lot of medication as he suffers from angina and he said it goes without saying that Dundon should not take alcohol.

On this occasion he said his client had five or six pints which, when added to his medication, was a “potent mixture” although he said that was not an excuse for what happened.

The defence lawyer said Dundon told him it was “fair play” to the police as they had asked him to move on and he didn’t and he was “thankful” for being kept in the cells over night because that stopped him from getting into any other bother.

The solicitor said the offence was “totally out of character” for Dundon.

Fining Dundon of Laurelbank, Dunmurry, Belfast, District Judge Richard Wilson said: “Stupid, don’t you be doing it again”.