‘JACK THE LAD’ PETROL BOMBER JAILED FOR ATTACK ON POLICE

Man sentenced to 3 years in prison for throwing petrol bombs at police in east Belfast

Man sentenced to 3 years in prison for throwing petrol bombs at police in east Belfast

A MAN who threw a petrol bomb at police has been sent to prison.

Kurtis Kenna, from east Belfast, was ordered to spend 18 months in jail and the remaining year and a half on supervised licence conditions.

Sentencing the 21-year-old, Belfast Crown Court Judge Gordon Kerr QC declared that anyone who attacked police with potentially lethal petrol bombs will go to jail.

“In my view such behaviour simply cannot be tolerated and in all circumstances, no matter what the personal circumstances of the defendant, must result in a custodial sentence,” said the judge.

He told Kenna: “They’re [petrol bombs] well known and you must have known that they can potentially cause horrific injuries.”

Kenna, from Ardenvohr Street in the east of the city, had pleaded guilty to throwing a petrol bomb at police on 5 January this year and to possessing an offensive weapon, namely a catapult, on the same date.

Prosecuting lawyer Robin Steer revealed how riot police had been policing serious disturbances at Castlereagh Street and Beersbridge Road when officers in the police helicopter spotted two men lighting and then throwing a petrol bomb.

In an effort to evade arrest, the pair swapped tops but Kenna was arrested shortly afterwards and immediately admitted what he had done.

During police interviews, he admitted what he had done was “stupid” and defence lawyer Dennis Boyd revealed how Kenna had described himself as “an a******” who was “standing there with a pack of friends acting jack the lad”.

Before Kenna was taken away to the cells, prison officers allowed him while cuffed to hug goodbye his weeping mother and other relatives in the public gallery.

 

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