Man gets suspended sentence for assault

Patrick Stokes (40), with an address at Drummard Park, in the Cityside, pleaded guilty to two charges of common assault, committed between April 2 and April 15 this year.

The magistrates’ court heard that during the incident, the defendant threw a cup at one of his sisters.

As a result, the injured party was left with a one-centimetre long cut on her forehead.

It was at this point that the police were contacted about his behaviour.

The court was told that Stokes assaulted a second sister after he was released on police bail.

The District Judge, Peter King, was told that the second woman had been drinking from a bottle of vodka and that Stokes attempted to 
grab the bottle and take it off her.

However, she refused to give him the bottle and the prosecution went on to relate how her brother then grabbed the chair she was sitting on. This caused the injured party to fall off it.

Solicitor Seamus Quigley, who appeared for Stokes, told the District Judge that his client had issues with alcohol.

He said his client’s family had taken a zero tolerance approach to what he called the defendant’s “abusive and violent behaviour when he is drinking”.

Upon hearing the evidence against Stokes, the District Judge imposed an eight-month jail term on him and suspended it for a period of two years.