Maghera man who said police were going to murder him, jailed for four months
Jordan Benjamin McAuley (24), whose address was given as King William III Crescent, admitted a charge of disorderly behaviour at O’Hara Road in the town in the early hours of September 13 last year.
Imposing the jail sentence, District Judge Alan White said he ordered pre-sentence reports in the hope that something constructive will come out of them.
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Hide AdHowever, he said, he finds from the report that McAuley tells probation that he would rather go to prison that cooperate with them.
A prosecuting lawyer told the court that police were called to O’Hara Road in Maghera after 1.30am and found the defendant who was behaving in a drunken manner.
The barrister said McAuley was stumbling around and shouting loudly and when asked by police if he was okay became aggressive, shouting that police were going to murder him.
Counsel said McAuley attempted to run away onto the Coleraine Road and police had to restrain him.
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Hide AdReading the pre-sentence report, Mr White commented that it was “shocking.”
A defence solicitor explained that defendant had been living with his sister in Maghera at the time of the incident, and had now returned to live with his mother in Cullybackey.
He said McAuley had been high on a cocktail of drink and drugs that evening and had been in a bar and was chased by men when the police came to help him.
The solicitor stressed defendant has been “drug free and incident free” since September, and was hopeful of securing a job in the construction industry.