Woman '˜dedicated her life' to street drinking

District Judge Oonagh Mullan gave the warning to 27-years-old Bridget Patricia Mongan as she deferred sentencing for six months.

Mongan, of Foyle Valley House, pleaded guilty to disorderly behaviour and jaywalking.

The charges relate to an incident in the John Street area of the city on March 8.

The local magistrate’s court heard police were called to an ongoing altercation shortly after 3pm.

They spoke to Mongan, however, she did not report any assault.

Officers viewed CCTV and observed two incidents involved Mongan and her partner.

They were punching and striking each other.

The altercation spilled out onto the road and cars had to break sharply to avoid hitting them.

It was revealed the defendant has 36 previous convictions and is in breach of a suspended sentence for disorderly behaviour. This was imposed in November, last year.

Defence solicitor Seamus Quigley said his client is a ‘young lady who had dedicated most of her life to drinking on the streets’.

However, he said Mongan has recently attended an appointment to address her addiction.

The solicitor urged the court to defer sentencing to allow her to ‘show she is willing to properly engage.’

He added: “Otherwise she will be appearing in court when she is 57, if she lives that long, for entirely identical sets of offences’.

Deferring sentencing, Judge Mullan warned the defendant that if she commits any further offences in the next six months “the only place you will be going is into custody.”