A 25-YEAR-OLD man who headbutted a man in an unprovoked attack outside an Enniskillen bar last summer has been ordered to pay £500 compensation to his victim.

Alex Crumlish, of Macnean Court, Belcoo, was charged with assaulting Jason Stewart, occasioning him actual bodily harm, on August 6, 2015.

Crumlish had entered a guilty plea at an earlier appearance before Fermanagh Magistrates Court and a pre-sentence report was prepared in the case.

At his sentencing on Monday, the court heard that, at 2.40am, police were tasked to an incident outside the Devenish Bar in Enniskillen. Around five minutes later, the injured party flagged down the police vehicle.

He alleged that he had been assaulted by the defendant for “no reason”. Officers observed that he had a cut below his left eye.

The defendant, who was only 30 to 40 metres away, was subsequently arrested. During interview, he stated that he was unable to recall what had happened.

Then, at 4pm on October 19 last year, Crumlish returned to the police station and was shown CCTV footage of the incident. In the video, a male, wearing the same clothing as the defendant had been when he was arrested, is seen approaching the injured party and headbutting him.

Crumlish could give no explanation and apologised for his actions.

Defending counsel, Joe McCann, told the court that his client didn’t dispute the facts of the assault,which had been committed “under the influence of alcohol”.

The barrister said there had been no justification for the headbutt, which had resulted in the victim sustaining a black eye.

Referring to the pre-sentence report, Mr McCann said the defendant was remorseful and had been assessed, “unusually in a case like this”, as posing a low likelihood of re-offending.

While admitting that his previous record was not to his credit, the barrister added that the defendant had “nothing of this level” on it.

He revealed that Crumlish had been prosecuted four years ago for assaulting police at his sister’s wedding.

After he described this as an “unusual occurrence at a wedding”, district judge Peter King observed: “Sadly not. And let’s not even talk about christenings.”

In mitigation, the barrister said that Crumlish had not taken a drink since last August and there was nothing pending against him.

Prior to last summer, Mr McCann said that there had been a three-year gap in offending during which the defendant had been “on the wagon”.

He argued that his client was willing to seek help for his issues and would benefit from supervision by Probation.

However, district judge Mr King observed that the defendant was facing a custodial sentence, due to the unprovoked nature of the assault and the headbutt.

The judge said that the defendant had eight previous convictions, although he conceded that the last relevant entry, for the assault on police, had been dealt with by way of a £100 fine and was an “entirely different level of violence”.

Giving credit for the guilty plea, Mr King imposed a six-month jail term on the defendant, which he then suspended for two years.

He also ordered Crumlish to pay £500 compensation to his victim.