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A man who spat a mouthful of blood into the face of a police officer has been handed a three-month prison sentence.
Jailing Bradley Agnew at Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, District Judge Nigel Broderick told the 26-year-old that “anyone who spits blood into the face of a police officer must readily expect a custodial sentence.”
Highlighting how “there are far too many” assaults on police officers, the judge also warned that “there must be a clear message that those who assault police in this way will be dealt with appropriately and proportionally.”
While Agnew, from the Ballymena Road in Doagh, was handed the jail sentence, he was freed on bail pending an appeal of the sentence.
A prosecutor had earlier outlined how police and ambulance had been called to an address over a report of an “unconscious male.”
Agnew was “drifting in and out of consciousness” so he was put on a stretcher to go to hospital but at one point, “he attempted to bite” one of the officers and then spat a mouthful “into the face of a police officer.”
Defence counsel Nadine Knight told the court Agnew was so intoxicated that he cannot remember the incident, but having heard what he did, he is “deeply ashamed of his behaviour and is entirely remorseful.”
“He wants to express his sincere apologies to the injured party,” said the barrister, adding that while Agnew had been deemed not suitable for community service due to his drug misuse, “he would welcome a probation order.”
Judge Broderick disagreed, however, and imposed the jail sentence although Agnew was released on bail a short time later.