Man jailed for ‘trashing’ his ex-partner’s home in Strabane

A MAN has been jailed for four months after ‘trashing’ his ex-partner’s house, a court has heard.

Stephen McColgan, 33, with no fixed abode, was sentenced at Strabane Magistrates Court.

The court heard that, on May 21, 2023, police received a report from a woman who returned home at 9pm to  find her house trashed.

She said that she had left for work at 1pm, but her back door had been unlocked. When she returned she found extensive damage to her kitchen, with appliances thrown around the room and a TV tipped over and smashed in her living room.

She added that her upstairs bedrooms were disturbed, but noted that no items had been stolen from the house. McColgan was brought to court to answer the charges but failed to attend his contested hearing, in which he was convicted of criminal damage but acquitted of burglary. He explained that, on the day of the contest, his phone was stolen in Belfast and he had ‘no money’ to return to Strabane.

Defence counsel Ciaran Roddy said that he intended to plead guilty to the offence that day and has ‘no intention’ to appeal the conviction.

Mr Roddy explained that McColgan is currently homeless, but if released from custody plans to stay with a friend until he gets an appointment with the Housing Executive. District Judge Alana McSorley said that she had seen footage of the house and the distress it caused to the victim.

She added “This (offence) passes the custody threshold every day of the week.”

McColgan was handed a four-month immediate term of imprisonment.