Sentencing of man who spat at and urinated on Kilkeel war memorial referred to Lady Chief Justice

NORTHERN Ireland's most senior legal figure has been asked to review the case of a man convicted of urinating on and spitting at a war memorial in Kilkeel, which a judge said he was "not entirely convinced" was a hate crime.

The Outlook carried an exclusive report on the proceedings at Newry Magistrates' Court in today's (Tuesday) edition, which you can read by purchasing a copy of the edition here.

Ronan Campbell, 23, of Corcreaghan Road, Kilkeel, was convicted of carrying out attacks on two separate occasions in October last year.

Campbell was convicted of a number of charges relating to the memorial to Kilkeel born Robert Hill Hanna VC.

He was convicted of spitting at and urinating on the memorial to Kilkeel born First World War hero Robert Hill Hanna VC as well as ripping up Remembrance wreaths and throwing them in a river.

Campbell also attempted to smash a window at the Ulster Scots centre in the town, Reivers House, operated by the Schomberg Society.

He admitted charges of theft, criminal damage, indecent behaviour, three counts of attempted criminal damage and two counts of disorderly behaviour.

While the PSNI said they had treated the attacks as "hate incidents" and the Public Prosecution Service told District Judge Eamonn King they "considered it to be a hate crime", District Judge Eamonn King said he was "not entirely convinced it was a hate crime because this is a 23-year-old and he doesn't understand what hate was".

A sentence of 40 hours of community service and 12 months on probation was imposed.

And the way in which the matter was dealt with has prompted the DUP to contact the Lady Chief Justice to ask her to review the case.

DUP Justice Spokesperson Joanne Bunting said it was "important" the matter is looked at again and stressed it was important the judiciary "seek to live in the real world".

Ms Bunting added that such comments as those by District Judge King, resident magistrate in Newry for the past two decades, "send out a dangerous message".

She said: “The independence of our judiciary is an important principle that we should all cherish and protect. However, whilst independent, they should also seek to live in the real world and ensure that justice is seen to be done.

"In this case both the PSNI and the prosecution considered the actions to constitute a hate crime. Any reasonable person might also ask what other motivation the judge in the case ascribed to this man if his actions were not driven by hatred and prejudice.

"It is important that the Lady Chief Justice review the case. It is only a few months since she had to provide advice and guidance to a judge following comments made to a sex offender.

"Everyone knows the significance and importance of war memorials. Such comments from a judge send out a dangerous message that it is ok to engage in such an attack or that it is not equivalent to other such incidents.

"If we are to move forward in Northern Ireland, then it must be based on respect for all communities, but this does not send out a message that all hate crimes are treated appropriately or equally.”

South Down MLA Diane Forsythe added that people in the Mourne area "deserve an explanation of the rationale behind the judge's comments".

She said: “The statue to Robert Hill Hanna was only unveiled last summer and it recognises his heroism on the Western Front in 1917. Both this and the adjacent Newry & Mourne District Memorial are important focal points of remembrance for people in the area and an attack on them is particularly distressing, particularly for relatives of those commemorated. The attacks on these were in addition to another on the Reivers House Ulster-Scots centre in the town.

"People within the area deserve an explanation of the rationale behind the judge’s comments.

"There should be no place for hate crimes in our society and when someone has been apprehended and brought to court it is beyond belief that anyone would seek to minimise those actions.”