Downpatrick man convicted of assaulting girlfriend

Downpatrick man convicted of assaulting girlfriend

29 October 2014

A MAN who put his hands round his girlfriend’s neck during a drunken argument has appeared in court.

Alan Burke (45), of Scotch Street, had denied the common assault charge but was convicted during a contested hearing at Downpatrick Court on Monday.

He was fined £100, ordered to pay this victim compensation of £350 and bound over to keep the peace for two years.

Burke’s former girlfriend told the court he became verbally abusive in the taxi home from a night out in Downpatrick on May 18. She said that when she confronted him about it later he became aggressive and it became “quite scary”.

“He put his hands around my neck to force me out of the house,” she said. “I thought he was going to kill me.”

The woman said he put his hands around her neck a second time and threw her handbag outside the house.

She said she had been left needing physiotherapy to her neck.

A defence barrister rejected her version of events, claiming she had “smashed things up in the kitchen” that night.

He pointed to the fact that there was no medical evidence of any injuries and that none could be found by police at the scene. The barrister added that his client had a clear record.

Giving evidence, Burke said he had drank 12 or 13 pints that night.

“She was smashing the place... I just wanted her out and she would not go out,” he said.

District Judge Greg McCourt said both parties had been drinking, but that Burke had had considerably more.

“That is a very high level of intoxication,” he said. “To me the injured party gave a very clear account of what happened.

“He did not come across as a credible witness.”