A man who inflicted head wounds to a victim lifted and dropped on the ground during a suspected row over seating at homeless facilities in Belfast has been jailed for nine months.
Kenneth William McKee carried out the attack which left the injured man requiring seven stitches, a judge was told.
The 35-year-old, previously of Ballymacoss Drive in Lisburn, Co Antrim, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm over the incident on July 14 this year.
He also admitted a common assault on another man punched to the ground in a separate encounter on the same day.
Belfast Magistrates Court heard police were alerted following the initial attack at the Welcome Centre’s Townsend Street site.
“The injured party alleged he had been punched and lifted in the air before being dropped on the ground, causing a substantial laceration to the rear of his head,” a prosecutor said.
Hours later, the second victim was struck repeatedly to the face at Fountain Lane in the city centre.
He continued struggling on the ground with his assailant before bystanders intervened to separate them.
Based on CCTV footage, McKee was identified and arrested as the suspected perpetrator.
According to District Judge Anne Marshall, the circumstances set out by the prosecution did not disclose the full “severity” of the assault on the first man.
“Seven stitches were put into that wound to the back of his head,” she stressed.
Mrs Marshall also asked: “Was this over a seat in the Welcome Centre, that he took someone’s chair?”
A defence lawyer acknowledged it had been “a very unsavoury incident” which caused significant injuries.
She claimed McKee had asked the victim to leave the Welcome Centre for hassling staff.
“The incident escalated, and he accepted that his behaviour went far beyond self-defence,” the lawyer added.
“He suffers from significant alcohol and drug issues, they were relevant at the time and he is very remorseful.”
Imposing nine months immediate custody, Mrs Marshall gave McKee credit for his guilty pleas.
But she told him: “This was a very significant injury to the complainant in this case.”