Man who came to Derry 'to escape' jailed for Christmas Eve assault
A man who came to the city 'to escape ' after being released from prison has been jailed at Derry Crown Court for an affray in the early hours of Christmas Eve last year in the city centre.
Dean Clark (30) with an address at Haywood Avenue in Belfast admitted one count of affray on December 24, 2025.
The court was shown CCTV footage of the incident, which occurred at the junction of Strand Road and Victoria Market at around 12.45am.
In the footage, Clark could be seen engaging with what Judge Roseanne McCormick KC described as 'vulnerable people', mostly street drinkers.
Initially Clark was slapping people with gloves. Then he was involved in an assault on a man in Sackville Street, punching a man to the ground.
He later told police that someone had thrown a bottle at him and he became involved in an incident there, but added that at the time 'everyone was on the drink'.
Judge McCormick said it was 'a very unsavoury incident' and said Clark was in 'a cycle of offending'.
She said he had been released from prison just three weeks before this incident.
As regards the incident itself, the judge said Clark could have 'deactivated' the situation, but instead he 'added heat to it'.
Pointing out that the defendant had 108 previous convictions, the judge said it was assessed he was at 'a high likelihood of reoffending'.
Clark was sentenced to 22 months with 11 being in custody and 11 on licence.