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A 35-YEAR-OLD man who spat blood on a police officer outside a primary school in Dungannon has had his sentence deferred and told to engage with mental health services.
Appearing before Dungannon Magistrates Court was Patrick Blaine Mullan (35) of Moyne Walk in the town. He was charged with assault and using disorderly behaviour in public.
The court heard that, on October 13 at around 3.20pm, police received a report of an intoxicated male disrupting traffic outside a school in the Killyman area of Dungannon.
When police attended the scene they noted that numerous schoolchildren witnessed the incident.
Mullan was arrested, spitting blood at police officers before being put into a cell van where he proceeded to bang his head against the door.
He was taken to hospital before being conveyed to Dungannon custody.
District Judge Rafferty noted that Mullan has mental health difficulties and issues surrounding alcohol, cocaine and cannabis use.
He told Mullan that, while spitting blood at police should warrant a custodial sentence, he would defer sentencing for six months allowing him to engage with mental health and probation services.
Mullan will be sentenced before Dungannon Magistrates Court on July 31.
