That is the teenage fool who threw fireworks on the residence of a police officer.
Finlay Hedges pleaded responsible to the assault which occurred in Juniper Hill caravan park in Portstewart.
The court docket, sitting in Ballymena, heard that in November final yr the 18-year-old was within the passenger seat of the automobile concerned.
It drove right into a cul-de-sac the place various cops dwell and threw a firework on the residence an officer. The system exploded near the entrance window.
The prosecuting lawyer instructed the court docket that 10 minutes later, the automobile was again and threw one other firework on the identical property nevertheless it bounced off the driveway and exploded “in shut proximity” to the properties of different serving officers.
Sadly for Hedges, a kind of off obligation officers jumped into his automobile and adopted him round Portrush, circulating the registration to his colleagues who arrested Hedges and his co-accused who had been driving.
Hedges, from Causeway Road within the harbour city however now residing in London, entered responsible pleas to a few counts of throwing fireworks and harassment of the police officer.
“This behaviour can solely be categorised as immature and cleverly, a scarcity of consequential considering,” mentioned a defence lawyer.
“He's very, very sorry for his behaviour,” mentioned the barrister, suggesting that “one thing left hanging over his head” would meet the justice of the case.
Sentencing Hedges, District Choose Peter King mentioned the deliberate focusing on of the officer “simply because they had been doing their job” was a major aggravating issue however just like the probation officer who interviewed him, “it’s puzzling why you had been a prepared participant”.
“It’s an exercise that would have had catastrophic penalties,” the decide instructed Hedges. “Throwing fireworks is juvenile and silly, however designed to trigger alarm.”
Though he imposed fines amounting to £450 for the firework offences, the decide mentioned the harassment offence “clearly crossed the custody threshold” so he handed Hedges a 4 month jail sentence, suspending it for 2 years.