![\"Newtownards](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_01JZ58B636MV9QN51GJ3X6TAJH.jpg\")
Newtownards Magistrates’ Court (Image: Brian Lawless\/PA Wire)<\/p>\nSome of the cases this week included the first person being convicted of rioting in Ballymena in JuneNewtownards Magistrates’ Court (Image: Brian Lawless\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n
While our courts are quieter over the summer months, there have still been a number of hearings across Northern Ireland<\/a> this past week.<\/p>\n Some of the cases this week included the first person convicted of rioting in Ballymena in June receiving a four month prison sentence after pleading guilty in court.<\/p>\n Also in this week’s court headlines was a man appearing in the dock charged with causing the death of teenager Jaidyn Rice by dangerous driving.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Mum of murdered Irish soldier slams “sham” trial that sentenced “untraceable” man to death<\/a>READ MORE: Murder victim\u2019s brother dies days after receiving police apology<\/a><\/p>\n And a judge stressed that the trial of former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson<\/a> and his wife Lady Eleanor Donaldson should not be delayed again.<\/p>\n Below is our weekly roundup of some of those who have been before the courts this week, beginning July 28, 2025.<\/p>\n Look out for:<\/p>\n Woman who had sex in Belfast church to be re-sentenced after breaching probation<\/strong><\/p>\n A homeless woman who had sex in a Belfast city centre church<\/a> will be re-sentenced in the New Year for breaching a probation order.<\/p>\n Adrienne Surgenor, 35, of no fixed abode, had previously pleaded guilty to a single charge of committing “a lewd, obscene and disgusting act<\/a> outraging public decency”. Co-accused Karol Piotr Biernacik, 43, of Loopland Road in east Belfast,<\/a> also pleaded guilty to the same offence and in May this year they were both ordered to complete a two-year probation order.<\/p>\n Belfast Crown Court<\/a> heard that around 2.30pm on November 6, 2024, two members of the public were attending St George’s Parish Church in High Street.<\/p>\n Read more here<\/a><\/p>\n Man accused of causing teen’s death appears in court<\/strong><\/p>\n A man has appeared in court charged with causing the death of teenager Jaidyn Rice by dangerous driving.<\/p>\n Jamie McCartney, 30, also faced charges of driving without a licence or insurance during his appearance at Newtownards Magistrates\u2019 Court<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Jaidyn, who was 16, died after being hit by a car on the West Circular Road in Bangor<\/a>, Co Down<\/a>, on July 8. McCartney appeared in the dock wearing a grey tracksuit and in handcuffs.<\/p>\n He replied \u201cyes\u201d when asked if he understood the charges. A PSNI<\/a> officer told the court he could connect the defendant to the charges.<\/p>\n Read more here<\/a><\/p>\n Woman charged with stalking after writing kidnap fantasies about NI mum<\/strong><\/p>\n A Co Antrim-based author<\/a> published fantasies about kidnapping a working mother at knifepoint as part of an alleged three-year stalking campaign, a court heard on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Kayleigh Kim Hughes, 28, also described having dreams about the victim being shot<\/a> and loitering near her home in a compulsion fuelled by envy at her success and family stability, a judge was told<\/a>.<\/p>\n Police said she had monitored the woman collecting her children and amassed more than 1,000 documents and images as her behaviour intensified.<\/p>\n Details emerged as Hughes, of Brackenbridge Green in Carrickfergus<\/a>, was remanded into custody charged with a stalking offence on dates between September 14, 2022 and July 26, 2025.<\/p>\n Read more here<\/a><\/p>\n Man who slashed at public in Belfast city centre with jagged beer can sentenced<\/strong><\/p>\n A man who slashed at shoppers in Belfast city centre<\/a> with a beer can torn in half to form a sharp-edged weapon has been jailed for six months.<\/p>\n Sean Savage, 34, brandished the adapted tin and declared that he was going to \u201ccut people up\u201d. A judge at Belfast Magistrates\u2019 Court<\/a> on Wednesday said any witnesses would have been terrified by his actions.<\/p>\n Savage, of Juniper Park in Dunmurry,<\/a> pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon with intent to commit assault occasioning actual bodily harm, criminal damage and obstructing police.<\/p>\n Prosecutors said he was spotted ripping the beer can in half to produce a sharp edge while in the Royal Avenue area on May 16 this year.<\/p>\n Read more here<\/a><\/p>\n Judge urges no further delays in Jeffrey and Eleanor Donaldson trial<\/strong><\/p>\n A judge has stressed that the trial of former DUP<\/a> leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson<\/a> and his wife Lady Eleanor Donaldson should not be delayed again.<\/p>\n The couple both face charges relating to alleged historical sex offences. The trial had previously been due to start in March, but was delayed because of Eleanor Donaldson\u2019s <\/a>ill health.<\/p>\n A new trial date has been set for November 3. The case was mentioned briefly at Belfast Crown Court<\/a> on Friday morning for an update on an assessment over whether Eleanor Donaldson is currently fit to stand trial.<\/p>\n Read more here<\/a><\/p>\n First person convicted of rioting in Ballymena jailed<\/strong><\/p>\n The first person convicted of rioting in Ballymena in June has received a four month prison sentence after pleading guilty in court.<\/p>\n Jamie Lee McCracken, 34, of no fixed abode received the sentence at Ballymena<\/a> Magistrates’ Court on Thursday after being arrested on Wednesday, June 11, during one night of the disorder on Bridge Street<\/a>.<\/p>\n He was spotted throwing a brick towards police officers before being arrested minutes later.<\/p>\n Police have said so far 53 people have arrested between the ages of 12 and 56 with 46 being charged<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read more here<\/a><\/p>\n Man accused of being “ringleader” of violent hotel incident refused bail<\/strong><\/p>\n The alleged “ringleader” of a violent incident in the foyer of Armagh City Hotel was refused bail on Friday.<\/p>\n The application to release 35-year old Kevin Grimley, from Crossmore Gardens in Keady<\/a>, was heard at Belfast Crown Court<\/a>.<\/p>\n Telling Judge Paul Ramsey that Grimley was not deemed as a suitable candidate for bail, prosecuting barrister Fiona O’Kane said his release was being “vociferously objected to” by the Crown.<\/p>\n Setting out the background to the five charges faced by Grimley – which include attempted grievous bodily harm with intent and assault occasioning actual bodily harm – Ms O’Kane said they arose from a “massively aggressive violent affray”.<\/p>\n Read more here<\/a><\/p>\n For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage<\/strong> here<\/a> and sign up to our daily newsletter<\/a> here.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some of the cases this week included the first person being convicted of rioting in Ballymena in JuneNewtownards…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[958,55584,82018,82017,83309,114116,78922,80374,30,188,91750,73833,48666,378,48665,1144,1618,16,15,1292],"class_list":{"0":"post-312751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-ballymena","9":"tag-bangor","10":"tag-belfast-crown-court","11":"tag-belfast-magistrates-court","12":"tag-belfast-city-centre","13":"tag-carrickfergus","14":"tag-co-antrim","15":"tag-co-armagh","16":"tag-courts","17":"tag-crime","18":"tag-dunmurry","19":"tag-east-belfast","20":"tag-eleanor-donaldson","21":"tag-in-the-news","22":"tag-jeffrey-donaldson","23":"tag-northern-ireland","24":"tag-psni","25":"tag-uk","26":"tag-united-kingdom","27":"tag-women"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114960984086990010","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_Jaidyn-Rice.jpg\")
16-year-old Jaidyn Rice from the Bangor area.(Image: PSNI)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_silhouette-of-depress-woman-standing-in-the-dark-with-light-shine-behind.jpg\")
As part of the alleged campaign Hughes obtained images from both the victim and her husband\u2019s Facebook accounts(Image: Getty Images\/iStockphoto)<\/p>\n![\"Staff](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Screenshot-2025-07-30-at-155702.png\")
Staff at JD Sports observed the defendant swinging and slashing this towards members of the public<\/p>\n![\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1_JS360459377jpgt-h.jpg\")
Eleanor Donaldson at a previous court hearing(Image: Liam McBurney\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/0_Police-Respond-To-Third-Night-Of-Unrest-In-Ballymena.jpg\")
PSNI riot squad officers form a blockade during riots in Ballymena, June 2025(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"Laganside](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_01JGXT2BWXKHR3Q17EA92GR4G6.jpg\")
Laganside Courts in Belfast (Image: Liam McBurney\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n