A passenger who smashed up 14 Glider ticket machines as he used the service to travel across west Belfast has avoided immediate imprisonment.
Bernard Dorrian (41) was given a 10-month suspended sentence for vandalising the screens with either a type of hammer or his own fists.
The total cost of repairing the machines attacked at stops over a three-hour period reached nearly £4,000.
Dorrian, of Aspen Walk in the Dunmurry area of the city, admitted carrying out the criminal damage to the Translink-owned installations on March 28 last year.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard 14 ticket machines for the Glider service were targeted between 4.30pm and 7.15pm along the route in west Belfast.
Stops at the Children’s Hospital, Twin Spires, Beechmount, Casement, Upper Dunmurry and Clonard were among those attacked.
“CCTV from 12 of the bus stops showed Mr Dorrian exiting the Glider and smashing the screens with a hand-held implement,” a prosecution lawyer said.
“On one occasion he was seen punching a machine with his fist.”
Dorrian was observed travelling from stop to stop, damaging each installation before getting back onto the Glider.
“The 14 ticket machines were left unusable,” the prosecutor added.
Dorrian initially denied responsibility during police interviews, claiming the CCTV footage showed someone else who looked like him.
However, he eventually pleaded guilty to criminal damage before the case reached trial.
Defence counsel Joel Lindsay told the court his client suffered from mental illness, including auditory and visual hallucinations.
Setting out how Dorrian had also been dealing with the break-up of a relationship, the barrister added: “He says that he is ashamed”.
District Judge Steven Keown expressed doubt about the expression of remorse.
But based on the defendant’s medical issues and eventual guilty plea, he decided not to send him to prison.
Imposing 10 months custody, Mr Keown suspended the term for three years.
He warned Dorrian: “If there’s anything like this (in that period) you will be going into jail for a long period of time”.
The judge also ordered him to pay £500 compensation to Translink.