Fleeing Coleraine prisoner handed 8 month sentence

By Q Radio news

A Coleraine man who escaped the custody of officers in the grounds of the town's police station was handed an eight-month sentence today (Wednesday).

Cain McCarthy was at large for several minutes after fleeing officers in the station's car park. He ran a short distance and was apprehended at nearby Lodge Road without a struggle.

The 24-year old, from Castleroe Road, appeared at Antrim Crown Court sitting in Belfast, via a videolink with Maghaberry.

Due to time already served on remand, a barrister for McCarthy asked that he be arraigned and sentenced on the same day.

After pleading guilty to a charge of escaping from lawful custody on May 13 last year, McCarthy pleaded guilty and was handed an eight-month sentence by Judge Geoffrey Miller QC.

Before passing sentence, Judge Miller said that on the date of the offence, police were called to an unrelated matter at an address in Coleraine, where McCarthy was arrested.

He was initially taken to hospital for medical treatment, and when he arrived at Coleraine police station, he ran off and escaped from officers in the car park.

Judge Miller said McCarthy was at large for "only a matter of minutes" and that he "only got a matter of yards from where he escaped" before being caught.

When interviewed about why he ran away, McCarthy told police 'I was scared. I am going to go to jail for something I didn't do. I just thought it was my last chance to go."

Judge Miller revealed that the charge for which McCarthy was initially arrested at the address in Coleraine has since been withdrawn.

Branding McCarthy an "immature young man" with a criminal record consisting of a "catalogue of offending", the Judge said it was accepted he was "at large for a very brief period before being recaptured."