Castlederg man shot at flock of birds from car, court told

A CASTLEDERG man has been given community service after firing shots at a flock of birds from a public road.

At Strabane Magistrates Court, 38-year-old Sean Doherty, of Ashleigh Court, was sentenced for discharging a firearm on a public road.

The court heard that, on April 23, police were alerted to a shot being fired off from a vehicle on the Laghel Road in Castlederg.

Officers investigated, and found CCTV showing the defendant on the road at 4.30pm. However, it was noted that he held a valid firearms licence.

Defence solicitor Patrick Roche told the court that Doherty had been shooting with his brother in Aghyaran earlier that day and then made a ‘foolish mistake’ to shoot at crows while driving home.

Mr Roche added that Doherty had permission to shoot on the land directly beside the road, noting that if he had pulled in and stood on the land, no offence would have been committed.

However a pre-sentence report provided to the court indicated that Doherty was remorseful and had ‘good victim insight’ for his offending.

Citing the case as an ‘extreme error of judgment’, District Judge Alana McSorley ordered Doherty to complete 40 hours of community service.