A MAN and woman have been sentenced for taking part in a violent altercation in west Belfast last summer.
Stephen Gerard Connolly (28) whose address was given as Magilligan and Ellen Louise Valliday (27) from Ross Road in Belfast both pleaded guilty to affray.
Connolly - who appeared at Belfast Crown Court via a videolink - was jailed for nine months and given a further nine months on licence.
Valliday received a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years.
The pair were arrested and charged following an incident in the Falls area on June 13 last year, when Connolly became involved in a fight with another man. Several other people - including Valliday - joined in. A man and woman sustained injuries, with Judge Stephen Fowler QC saying he accepted it was not possible to determine exactly who inflicted them.
The Belfast Recorder revealed Connolly has 99 previous convictions and also has cannabis and alcohol misuse issues dating back to his teens.
Valliday, the judge noted, also had difficulties with drink in her past, but as she is now mother to a seven-month old baby, she "no longer misuses alcohol or drugs".
Connolly was returned to custody while Valliday was warned to stay out of trouble for the next two years.