Omagh man pointed knife at nurses delivering medication

AN Omagh man who pointed a knife at nurses delivering medication to his house has been put on probation for 18 months.

Kevin Mallon (45), of Fairmount Avenue, faced the charge of possessing a knife in public when he appeared at Omagh Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

The court heard that, at 1.30pm on February 7, police received a report of a man with a knife.

Psychiatric nurses had been delivering medication to Mallon’s address when they were met with the defendant wielding a kitchen knife at the door.

‘not safe’

The defendant then told the nurses, ‘You’re not safe here’, to which the nurses dropped the medication on the floor.

Mallon then came out onto the street with the knife and collected the medicine before going back inside his house.

A pre-sentence report detailed a previous conviction against Mallon while he was in England, with the 45-year-old being released from custody in 2022.

Defence solicitor, Michael Fahy, told the court that the defendant has had mental health challenges all of his life, and notified the court that Mallon had stopped using alcohol and drugs since the incident.

While Deputy District Judge Magill acknowledged that Mallon’s mental health was not good, he told the defendant that ‘these issues won’t simply go away’.

Judge Magill asked if the defendant would agree to probation, which Mallon consented to.

He then imposed an 18-month Probation Order.

Mallon himself addressed the court to say that he had recently joined a church group and was soon to be baptised.