Police officer convicted of assaulting colleagues at wedding

A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer has been found guilty of assaulting two colleagues at a wedding while off-duty and drunk.

Police constable Marcus Brush, 31, was convicted on two counts of common assault and a further charge of drink driving at Coleraine Magistrates' Court on Friday.

The charges arose following an incident at the Galgorm Manor Hotel on 21 and 22 September 2023.

Sentencing, deputy district judge Noel Dunlop imposed a 15-month driving ban and fines totalling £1,500.

"There is no penalty I can impose that will equate to the penalties that your authorities will do," he said.

A barrister told the court PC Brush is currently suspended from his job and is on reduced pay.

Over four days of evidence Judge Dunlop heard that after PC Brush had an argument with his partner, the groom told him "in no uncertain terms" to leave the wedding.

The court heard that after some persuading the two off-duty officers who were assaulted had "escorted" the defendant out of the wedding venue and into the main hotel.

As they got closer to Brush's room, he became "more agitated" and lashed out unexpectedly, elbowing them both in the face before the pair restrained him on the ground until uniformed colleagues came to the hotel.

After the incident at the hotel, uniformed officers took Brush home, with one of the officers driving his car home for him.

At 04:00 local time however, he landed back at the hotel where staff refused to allow him inside so instead, he got back into his car and went to sleep in the back seat.

That's where other officers found him at 06:00 and Brush failed a preliminary breath test

The 31-year-old told the court it was as the two off-duty colleagues had "hands on him", escorting him back to his hotel room, when he "shrugged" his arms away.

"I did not strike out at them," he claimed, adding, "it was more like they were putting hands on me…I was like, you don't need to do that."

"I didn't lash out, definitely, definitely not," he told the court.

Brush claimed that having slept at home for a time he would have been below the limit to drive when he went back to the hotel.

The constable will be the subject of an inquiry by the PSNI Professional Standards Department "and that may lead to a certain finality with regards to his employment," the barrister added.

Judge Dunlop told PC Brush that as a police officer he "should have been aware of the situation" in that his off-duty colleagues and fellow wedding guests "were trying their best to de-escalate the situation and take you away from trouble".

Following an application by defence counsel Neil Moore, the judge granted bail in the sum of £300 and allowed PC Brush to drive, pending an appeal of the convictions and sentence.