Belfast teen jailed for headbutting policewoman and chipping another cop’s bone

Tiernan Delaney attacked the officers in the north of the city late last year.

The 19-year-old, with a hostel address on the Antrim Road, received a seven-month sentence for offences of assault on police and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard the officers detained him on December 28 after they were flagged down by a distressed female in the Cliftonville Road area.

During attempts to search Delaney he headbutted the policewoman in the face.

He then turned on the second officer, who fell to the ground during the struggle.

A prosecution lawyer said the constable sustained a cut lip, lacerations, and a chipped bone in his elbow.

Defence barrister Turlough Madden argued that the injuries were sustained in a “tussle” between his client and the policeman.

“It was certainly reckless, but there was no actual intention to cause the injuries,” counsel said.

Mr Madden also described Delaney as “a victim of the care system”.

Imposing a total sentence of seven months in the Young Offenders’ Centre, District Judge Anne Marshall stressed the seriousness of the offences.

She stated: “To assault two police officers, headbutting one female and chipping the bone of another, (crosses) the custody threshold.”