Judge berates ‘idiot’ Celtic fan who antagonised flute band
AN “idiot” who repeatedly kissed the badge on his Celtic top as a flute band paraded past a war memorial was fined £150 and told to “wise up”.
Craigavon Magistrates’ Court heard that during a parade on September 2, the Upper Bann Fusiliers were walking past the war memorial in Lurgan when 39-year-old Shane Joseph McCrory, wearing a Celtic jersey, “lifted the badge up to his mouth, kissing it repeatedly”.
A prosecuting lawyer told the court police were of the view that “he was doing it to antagonise” people taking part in the parade so he was spoken to at the scene and stopped kissing the badge.
The lawyer added that “the band parade moved on without incident”.
His defence solicitor said McCrory, from Beech Court in Lurgan, was entering a guilty plea to the single charge of doing a provocative act “with intent to provoke a breach of the peace”.
She conceded that in McCrory’s own words his actions came in a “moment of stupidity and madness and accepts it shouldn’t have happened”.
Imposing a £150 fine on the father-of-four, Deputy District Judge Brown said McCrory is “really just an idiot”.
“But an idiot with the potential to cause major public disruption,” added the judge, who told McCrory to “just wise up”.
He added: “Thankfully the band members behaved in a more dignified way than McCrory.
“However people have to realise the potential, in this jurisdiction, for serious disruption if the other people it’s directed at take exception to it.”