Bus driver attacked in car park of nightclub in Cookstown

The incident outside the Sense club on the town’s Drum Road took place around 2.30am on November 24 last year, and saw the defendant, Kevin Gormley, punch the driver who had been trying to prevent Gormley from damaging another bus.

Appearing before Dungannon Magistrates Court, Gormley, from Prospect Park in Belfast, was given a prison sentence of three months, suspended for two years, for the attack, which took place only a few months after he had been given a conditional discharge for a similar type of offence.

On this occasion, the victim, who had approached Gormley after noticing him banging on another bus, sustained injuries to his nose, mouth and neck.

Gormley’s clothes were seized for examination, while CCTV footage showed him in the nightclub carpark, although he claimed not to be able to remember anything about the attack.

Gormley’s barrister described the defendant as “an industrious young man”, but added that previous employment with Royal Mail had ended because of his criminal record.

Addressing the defendant directly, Deputy District Judge, Paul Conway, referred to Gormley’s previous record: “You receive a conditional discharge for assault then two months later you go and do the same again.

“You seem to have an anger problem. On two occasions in the space of months you have lost control and assaulted somebody. On this particular occasion, you assault a bus driver while on a night out.

“This was a serious assault which left the bus driver with a bloody nose. He (the victim) was performing a public duty in his place of work and was trying to prevent damage being caused to another bus by you.”

The Judge also referred to a Probation report prepared on the defendant, which found him to be at low risk of re-offending, when he imposed sentence in the case.

Gormley was also ordered to pay £500 compensation to his victim.