Declan Ward, aged 24, from Garvaghy Park, Portadown, appeared before Craigavon Magistrates Court charged with one count of criminal damage. Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to NorthernIrelandWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you. The court heard that on August 1 last year, police received reports of concern for a man who was lying on the road outside an address in Craigavon.
Advertisement Advertisement Police spoke to the man, who was the defendant, and found him ‘heavily intoxicated’ and ‘struggling to maintain his balance’. “He began to make off from police and he was observed striking the side of a parked vehicle causing a large dent near the wheel arch,” a prosecutor told the court. Ward was detained and taken to Craigavon Area Hospital.
He was later arrested and charged with criminal damage. The cost of the damage was £825.41.
The prosecutor said while he was making an application for compensation, he was aware that Ward was currently in custody. Advertisement Advertisement Ward’s barrister Mr Damien Halleron said his client’s father had died shortly before he was apprehended by police. “Police were only there out of concern for him.
They weren’t there due to concern he may be conducting criminality. It’s accepted by him that he was under the influence,” said the barrister. Mr Halleron added that his instructions were that the defendant’s cousin, Brian Ward, has already paid for the damage caused.
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