Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Back behind bars
Criminal pair beaten by baying mob are returned to custody
TWO wanted men battered by a mob and covered in paint are back behind bars, it was confirmed yesterday.
A PSNI spokesman said James White “has been recalled to prison” following his arrest in Mullaghbawn, Co Armagh, on Saturday.
Alexis Guesto appeared at Newry Crown Court yesterday morning before being remanded in custody.
Sources say Guesto, who also goes by the name Jason Lydiard, still had paint in his hair and parts of his body when he was brought before a judge.
Both men had breached court orders by leaving Northern Ireland. It is understood they had been in the Republic before crossing the border sparking a PSNI manhunt.
They were caught by a vigilante mob, beaten, tied to a bench and doused in paint. They were later rescued by police.
More details of why Guesto, whose address was given as Thompson House in North Belfast, was wanted emerged yesterday after his court appearance.
He is facing three charges of breaching a “community based order” for failing to comply with requirements to notify a Probation Officer of any change of address as well as failing to turn up for an appointment and for his whereabouts being unknown to Probation.
Guesto is understood to have failed to turn up at his “approved address” at Thompson House, which houses offenders after prison, on February 2. The Probation Orders were imposed
ARMAGH YESTERDAY CO
after Guesto was convicted of sexual offences at Newry Crown Court in June 2016 and again in March last year.
White is back in jail having breached his licence so is not required before a court. Guesto, however, was wanted on a bench warrant.
Also yesterday, it emerged a priest had tried to intervene as the mob attacked the men.
A woman who saw the assault said up to 100 people were watching the “brutal” attack. The woman, who did not wish to be named, told the BBC a priest tried to calm the situation.
She said: “They kicked them in the head. They beat them with sticks. They jeered.
“They took pictures of them. I thought one was dead.”