Man walked out in traffic to punch moped driver

He also caused damage to a car and punched a man twice on the head.

Adrian John Hughes, Churchill Park, Portadown, admitted a number of charges when he appeared last Wednesday at Craigavon Court.

He pleaded guilty to disorderly behaviour on June 18, two assaults and criminal damage to a car.

The court heard that CCTV showed the defendant walking in and out of traffic in Thomas Street, and he attempted to punch a moped driver.

Hughes was intoxicated, shouting and swearing, and was arrested for disorderly behaviour.

Police were approached by someone who said the defendant had hit his front nearside door causing damage. The driver’s pregnant girlfriend was in the front seat and she was deeply upset.

Hughes punched the injured party twice on the head leaving a bump.

Another man approached the police to say he had been crossing the street when Hughes tried to punch him.

A prosecutor said that Hughes had got out of prison that morning at 11.45am and went to the pub where he said he had four bottles of beer and the next thing he remembered was waking up in Lurgan custody suite. He suffered from black-outs.

A defence barrister said that while he was on drugs he fell over and suffered injuries, including a broken jaw and a fracture of the skull. He added that Hughes had not got into any trouble since June and felt ashamed at what he had done.

The solicitor said his client wanted to move forward with his life and away from any peer pressure. He asked the court to consider probation as Hughes was trying to deal with his alcohol issues and probation would be experts to help him along the road.

District Judge, Mr Mervyn Bates, said he would defer sentence for four months until January 13 next year.

At that time he would want an updated pre-sentence report, a report from the community support team, any medical report from the defendant’s legal advisors they wished to present, and that Hughes should not come to the attention of the police.