17 August 2012 Last updated at 10:54 ET

Derry man's spit made police vehicle unusable

A Londonderry man who spat on the door of a police vehicle has been ordered to do 175 hours of community service.

Mark McEleney (24) of Circular Road in the city admitted the incident which occurred on 7 June.

He was in Derry's PSNI station on another matter, but became aggressive once he was told that he would be seen shortly.

A prosecution lawyer said that after McEleney spat on the vehicle it was unfit for use.

The lawyer said it had to be cleaned again before it could be used.

A defence solicitor said his client's behaviour was "inexplicable".

He said his client had gone voluntarily to the police station "with the best of intentions".

The court heard that McEleney was in the inquiry office with regard to money warrants.

He was told his case would be dealt with and he then became aggressive and started shouting.

He was warned about his behaviour and continued to act in an aggressive manner, finally throwing a water bottle at the desk.

There were several other people in the office at the time and eventually police entered and removed McEleney.

The court heard that while he was being placed in a police vehicle to be taken to the custody suite he spat on the door of the vehicle.

Deputy District Judge Peter King ordered McEleney to undertake 175 hours of community service and pay compensation of £138 for the cleaning of the police vehicle.