Assaulted female in Bridge Street

John Francis Jordan from Mountview Park was also charged with disorderly behaviour, and assault on police on 29 March 2010.

The court heard that after his arrest, Jordan served four months on remand and at last week's court District Judge Mr Philip Mateer said he, "did not consider that the law needs to extract any more from him."

Jordan was placed on Probation for a year and ordered to undergo any alcohol related programmes that Probation Services deemed appropriate.

He told Jordan, "You are getting too old for this kind of lifestyle, you need to knock it on the head."

The court heard how on 29 March 2010 at 9.25pm police were tasked to Bridge Street Banbridge following a report that a female had been assaulted.

When police arrived they saw Jordan pulling the woman across the road by the arms into Friar Tucks.

He shouted, "Tell them who hit you but you better not say it was me."

The injured party had a bloody mouth and it appeared her tooth was knocked out.

An independent witness at the scene said he had seen the assault in the street a short time earlier.

Jordan became aggressive to police and told them to f*** off. He ignored several warnings to curb his behaviour and shouted more threats to the injured party shouting, "I will come looking for you. I will get her, no worries, you sl*t."

Jordan then assaulted a police constable by kicking him and was subsequently arrested.

His solicitor Mr Moriarty stressed this was not a domestic case, as the injured party was an acquaintance from his university days.

He said his client "did not negotiate his teens or early twenties very well" and fell out of university when the alcohol dragged him down.

Mr Moriarty agreed that Jordan's record comprised of a number of assaults on police and was not "a very flattering picture with very ugly aspects."

"But now there seems to be a motivation to tackle the problem. He is high on life at the minute and he has been dry for a fortnight since his release and for him that represents something of an achievement."

District Judge Mr Mateer said this catalogue of offences on 29 March was "an outrageous assault on a female whether or not she was a friend or partner. To take drink to excess and behave in the way you did, is totally unacceptable. Then when police come along you assault an officer and carry on resisting."

"And all of that happened just six weeks after you appeared here and were given a suspended sentence. The court can't keep giving you chances."