Belfast teen jailed after being identified in footage of motorist attack

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Alan Erwin

February 04 2022 06:41 PM

A teenager identified on footage of a motorist being attacked by a group in west Belfast has been jailed for three months.

Prosecutors claimed Tiernan Murphy was spotted at the scene as the driver was kicked on the ground beside his car.

Murphy, 19, of St Gall’s Avenue in the city, was convicted of disorderly behaviour.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard five males targeted the unidentified motorist in the Springfield Road area on November 4 last year.

Footage of the assault was provided to police by a member of the public who witnessed the incident.

“It showed the driver of the car being attacked by these people when he landed on the ground outside the car,” a Crown lawyer said.

Murphy was recognised in the clip of the man being kicked, the court heard, and then fled with the others.

No statement of complaint was ever made by the victim.

Defence solicitor Philip Breen stressed that his client was only prosecuted for disorderly behaviour.

“People got mobile phones out, recorded the incident and plastered it all over social media,” he added.

Sentencing Murphy to three months custody for the offence, District Judge George Conner also activated a previous suspended term to run concurrently.

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