A busy week in our courts after the summer recess
Courts across Northern Ireland returned from their summer recess and marked the start of September this past week.
Among the cases heard was a Co Armagh man being handed a five-year prison sentence for child sex offences.
Separately a man who stole a £95,000 piece of Banksy artwork was jailed for six months and another man who damaged a door in an arson attack at his father’s property was made the subject of a two-year Probation Order.
Below is our weekly roundup of some of those who have been before the courts this week, beginning September 1, 2025.
Look out for:
- NI man in court accused of offering to pay for sex with child
- ‘Rogue trader’ who ‘lacked most basic skills’ convicted after charging thousands
- “Trick or treat” petrol bomb attack accused ‘still awaiting psychiatric exam’
- Man threatened to hit pal with hammer before being caught with steak knives
- Belfast man “terrified” motorists and children by pointing gun at them
- Woman fined £30k after six-year benefit fraud conviction
- Landlord and housing association fined after illegal eviction in East Belfast
- Man admits charges linked to riots in Belfast
- Man jailed after swinging hammer at woman in ‘appalling’ burglary
- Man who carried our arson attack on father’s property sentenced
- Justice as “incredibly manipulative child predator” jailed
- Downpatrick murder and attempted murder accused appears in court
- Belfast Banksy theft accused jailed
- NI man jailed after attempt to smuggle vulnerable children into the UK
- Belfast man pleads guilty to possession of firearms and explosives
- Man attacked with tin of paint and WD40 in mum and son attack
- Belfast man admits 11 charges of making and possessing child porn
NI man in court accused of offering to pay for sex with child
A Bangor man is to stand trial later this year on sexual charges involving a child.
Glen Haslett appeared in the dock of Belfast Crown Court on Monday where he was charged with, and denied, four offences dating back over a decade. The 32-year old, from Pinehill Road, confirmed his identity to a court clerk.
He was then charged that on a date unknown between May 12 and October 31, 2014 he obtained the sexual services of a female child and before obtaining such services he made or promised payment for those services to the child.
When asked how he pleaded to the charge, Haslett replied “not guilty”.
Read more here
‘Rogue trader’ who ‘lacked most basic skills’ convicted after charging thousands
A “rogue trader” who charged thousands to fix a roof that immediately started leaking again after the work was finished has fined and told to pay compensation.
David Douglas, a 22-year-old with an address at Greenfields Way in Weston-Super-Mare who was self-employed and trading as First Fix Roofing, was ordered at Derry Magistrates’ Court on Monday to pay £11,350 compensation to the victim.
He was found guilty of two offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, in a case brought by the Trading Standards Service, and also fined £500.
Read more here
“Trick or treat” petrol bomb attack accused ‘still awaiting psychiatric exam’
A man who allegedly shouted “trick or treat” before throwing a lit petrol bomb at two people inside a pub last month is still awaiting psychiatric examination, a court has heard.
There was no bail application for John Patrick Nixon, 38, during a sitting of Armagh Magistrates’ Court in Newry on Tuesday morning.
The defendant, with an address at Corrigan Court, Irish Street in Armagh, remains in custody at Maghaberry as medical information – including psychiatric evaluation – is sought by legal representatives.
He is accused of two counts of attempted murder in relation to the incident in Armagh city on August 18. Nixon is also charged with several other offences alleged to have been committed on the same day, including criminal damage to property and a vehicle elsewhere in Armagh earlier that evening.
Read more here
Man threatened to hit pal with hammer before being caught with steak knives
A Belfast man who threatened to hit a friend on the head with a hammer was jailed for six months on Tuesday.
Judge Gordon Kerr KC told Jonathon Raymond Maguire he will spend a further six months on supervised licence following his release from custody.
Maguire, 49, of no fixed abode, previously pleaded guilty to charges of common assault and criminal damage. He further admitted possessing two serrated knives in a public place.
Belfast Crown Court heard that at around 8.15am on May 20, 2022, the injured party was woken at his home on Templemore Avenue in east Belfast by a person banging on the front door.
Read more here
Belfast man “terrified” motorists and children by pointing gun at them
A south Belfast man who “terrified” motorists and children by pointing a gun at them was handed a 27 month sentence on Tuesday.
Charles Shaun Cunning was told that he will spend half the sentence in prison and the remainder on supervised licence after his release from custody.
The 59-year-old, of Empire Street, had previously pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and possessing an imitation firearm.
Read more here
Woman fined £30k after six-year benefit fraud conviction
A Newtownabbey woman has been fined £30,000 after being convicted of six years of benefit fraud.
Maxine Davis, 66, of Glebe Manor, was sentenced on Tuesday at Laganside Crown Court after being convicted of six charges of falsely claiming Jobseekers Allowance from July 2017 to January 2023.
It came following a fraud investigation by the Department for Communities where Davis was found to have claimed over £29,000 that she was not entitled to.
Read more here
Landlord and housing association fined after illegal eviction in East Belfast
A landlord and a housing association have been fined after being convicted of illegally evicting a woman from her East Belfast home.
Asherwoods Housing Association and one of its directors Maurice Dawson were convicted at Belfast Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday of unlawfully locking a woman from her property on Kirkliston Drive between June 26, 2023 and July 3, 2023.
The housing association and landlord were each fined £750 and order to pay £198 by the court.
Read more here
Man admits charges linked to riots in Belfast
A 32-year old Newtownabbey man today admitted a series of charges linked to a riot in Belfast.
Last August an anti-immigrant rally was held in the city and following this, a crowd began making its way to the Islamic Centre on University Road. A short time later, public disorder broke out in the Donegall Road/Sandy Row area which saw police come under attack and several businesses being targeted.
Jamie Clarke, from Innis Walk in Newtownabbey, appeared in the dock of Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday where he admitted a total of five charges dating back to August 3, 2024.
Read more here
Man jailed after swinging hammer at woman in ‘appalling’ burglary
A 27-month sentence was imposed upon a Co Antrim man on Wednesday who stole a 46-inch TV after entered a flat brandishing a hammer.
Telling James Richard Hogg, 46, that his actions would have been “appalling” for the female occupant, Judge Mark Reel divided the sentence equally between prison and supervised licence.
Hogg, from Kinbayne Avenue in Greenisland, was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court for four offences committed in 2023. The court heard that on the evening of November 14, 2023 Hogg kicked in the door of a flat in East Belfast.
Read more here
Man who carried our arson attack on father’s property sentenced
A man who damaged a door in an arson attack at his father’s property has been made the subject of a two-year Probation Order.
Ross Mark Thomas Lavery appeared at Belfast Crown Court and was sentenced by Judge Gordon Kerr KC. With an address as HMP Maghaberry, the 23-year-old admitted charges of arson and possessing Pregabalin on June 26 last year.
Defence barrister Luke Curran told Judge Gordon Kerr on Wednesday that the damage amounted to “scorch damage” to a door belonging to Lavery’s father and his father’s partner.
Mr Curran also told the Judge that his client has spend “over a year” in custody. Judge Kerr imposed the Probation Order which amounts to Lavery being released from custody.
Read more here
Justice as “incredibly manipulative child predator” jailed
A Co Armagh man has been handed a five-year prison sentence for child sex offences.
Patrick Lavery, 40, of Ballynamoney Road, Lurgan, was convicted at Craigavon Crown Court in May following a two week trial after facing nine child sex offence charges that took place from 1999 to 2009.
The charges included gross indecency towards a child, both male and female victims, and counts of indecent assault against a child and sexual assault on a child.
The court heard there were six victims, with the youngest just six-years-old, while Lavery was a teenager at the start of his offending and an adult in his 20s towards the end of it.
Lavery returned to the dock on Thursday for sentencing, looking ahead and without expression between two guards for most of the hearing while people sat in the public gallery behind him.
Read more here
Downpatrick murder and attempted murder accused appears in court
The man accused of the murder of Stephen Brannigan and the attempted murder of a priest in Downpatrick appeared in court again this past week.
Hugh Malone, 30, of no fixed address but from the Belfast area, appeared via videolink from Maghaberry Prison at Downpatrick Magistrates Court on Thursday where he faces charges of murder and attempted murder.
Malone has been charged with the murder of 56-year-old Stephen Brannigan on August 10, 2025, after he was found dead at a property in Marian Park, Downpatrick.
Read more here
Belfast Banksy theft accused jailed
A man who stole a £95,000 piece of Banksy artwork was jailed for six months on Thursday.
Belfast Recorder Judge Patricia Smyth told Adil Hajjaj that he will spend a further six months on supervised licence on his release from prison.
Hajjaj, 50, of Sandymount Street in south Belfast, recently pleaded guilty to the theft of the limited edition ‘Laugh Now’ print from Charles Gilmore Fine Art gallery on April 2 this year. He further pleaded guilty to receiving stolen goods on the same date, namely a bottle of rum from Ross’s Auctioneers.
Read more here
Belfast man pleads guilty to possession of firearms and explosives
An East Belfast man has pleaded guilty to possession of firearms and explosives in suspicious circumstances.
Neil Miller, 47, of Cherryvalley Gardens appeared at Belfast Crown Court via video link from prison on Friday where he admitted two charges of possession of firearms and possession of explosives.
Read more here
Man attacked with tin of paint and WD40 in mum and son attack
A mother and son who attacked a man who had been partying with them in their garden shed appeared in court on Friday.
Whilst Corey Benson, 27, was handed a three-year sentence, Judge Gordon Kerr KC deferred the sentencing of 45-year old Donna Maria Benson for six months.
They admitted charges dating back to October 2023 arising from a drug-fuelled attack on a man which left him hospitalised. Belfast Crown Court heard that on October 20, 2023 police received a report that a man had been assaulted with a hammer in a shed at the rear of a house at Servia Street in the west of the city.
Read more here
Belfast man admits 11 charges of making and possessing child porn
A West Belfast man has admitted 11 charges of making and possessing child pornography.
Mohammad Altayawi, 48, of Forest Street, appeared at Belfast Crown Court on Friday where he faced 11 charges of making and possessing child pornography.
He was charged with nine counts of making an indecent photograph of a child on dates between January 25, 2023 and April 25, 2023, one count of possession of an extreme pornographic image on dates between April 16 and August 11 and one count of possession of an image of a child on dates between June 26 and August 11.
Read more here
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
#Northern #Ireland #courts #roundup #cases #heard #courts #week
