A MAN who climbed on top of a PSNI vehicle then placed a plastic bag over a camera recording a riot has appeared in court - more than a decade after the incident.
John Edward Alexander Blair (33) was handed a two-year sentence suspended for three years at Belfast Crown Court.
The father-of-two, from Fairfax Road in Cirencester, England, admitted his involvement in the riot in east Belfast in July 2011. During intense street disorder in the Newtownards Road area, petrol bombs were launched.
Several police vehicles were damaged. Samples of blood were taken from a roof-mounted CCTV camera. This led to Blair being interviewed by police in England in April 2012. When he was shown footage, he admitted his guilt.
He was arraigned in April 2013 and pleaded guilty to rioting. Sentencing was adjourned to March 2014 and when Blair failed to attend the hearing, a warrant was issued. He claimed he booked a ferry to Belfast to attend sentencing but it was cancelled, and that when he didn't hear anything else, he assumed some form of non-custodial sentence was imposed in his absence.
In October, it emerged police were seeking Blair. The warrant was executed on November 18, Blair was arrested and has been in Maghaberry since.
Defence barrister John O'Connor spoke of the obvious delay between the offence being committed and Blair's arrest - and said his client was "living in plain sight".
He told Judge Philip Gilpin that Blair is now a "very different person" and when released, intends to return to his partner in England and employment.