A CONVICTED robber who caused more than £3,000 of damage to the roof of the Young Offenders Centre (YOC) was jailed for eight months.
Newtownards Magistrates Court heard that on April 21 last year while he was on remand for a robbery offence, Nash Beattie was spotted by prison officers on the roof of Hydebank YOC.
A prosecuting lawyer told the court CCTV footage captured Beattie causeing damage to windows, vents, drain pipes and an air conditioning unit which cost £3,404 pounds to fix, adding that while he was with two other inmates, they had not caused any damage.
At an earlier hearing Beattie, (20), from Garvaghy Park in Portadown, Co Armagh, was convicted in his absence of causing criminal damage and yesterday his defence solicitor said he would have confessed anyway given his "full and frank admissions" during police interviews.
The lawyer revealed that Beattie was given a four year sentence for robbery at the start of the month, split into two years in custody and two on licence, asking the judge not to interfere with his release date.
That offence arose when Beattie, who was staying in a Belfast hostel at the time, held an imitation gun to the throat of another hostel resident and robbed him of £40 on January 12 last year.
Imposing an eight month sentence to be served concurrently, District Judge Mark Hamill told Beattie "stay off the roof."
