A Unionist member of Belfast City Council, Robert Ernest Cleland, was given a conditional discharge at Craigavon Magistrates' Court yesterday on a charge of disorderly behaviour in Lurgan, Co Armagh, on July 30th last year.
Cleland (33), from Hillsborough Gardens, Belfast, admitted the charge. A lawyer for the DPP told the magistrate that the case related to an incident in Market Street, Lurgan, after Sinn Fein had told the RUC that it proposed to hold a parade in the area on July 30th.
The lawyer said there was some opposition in the form of a loyalist counter demonstration and Cleland had been seen with a flagstick in his hand behaving aggressively towards the police and also striking an RUC Land Rover.
Defence counsel said Cleland deeply regretted his behaviour. Since the incident he had been invited to join the police liaison committee and had done so.