Threat to throw hot soup over woman

A STEWARTSTOWN man who threatened to throw hot soup over a woman, agreed to serve an 18 month Probation Order when he appeared before the Magistrates Court.

Cathal Patrick Duffy (54) of Mountjoy Road admitted a charge of common assault.

The court was told he arrived at the female’s home in Stewartstown when he was intoxicated and began shouting. He was told to leave but grabbed her and threatened to throw hot soup over her.

During police interview, he said he could not remember what happened but accepted he could have carried out those actions. Defence solicitor Ruairi Maguire pointed out that Duffy had ‘underlying issues’ as outlined in the pre-sentence report and suggested he could benefit from probation. Addressing the defendant, District Judge Peter Magill said, “Probation can be very useful to you. The only time you were in court before was for a driving matter and interestingly enough that was alcohol related.

“This is also alcohol. I don’t want to pre-judge but there may be an issue here. If you can’t handle it, don’t take it.

“If you don’t keep your appointment with probation you will be sent back to court and re-sentenced. You must attend any alcohol/drugs course as recommended by probation”.