Derry footballer receives suspended sentence for assault

The court was shown CCTV footage of the incident which occurred outside a city centre bar.
Defence counsel Mr. Stephen Chapman said that there was a degree of provocation to the incident and claimed that the injured party had been shouting at Patterson about his profession.
Mr. Chapman acknowledged that it was never acceptable to bite someone in the face even in a self defence situation, adding that Patterson would have to live with the consequences of his actions.
Deputy District Judge John Connolly said it was a ‘nasty incident’ that had left a visible scar on the injured party’s face.
He said it seemed to be a case of “when the drink was in, the wit was out” and there was no premeditation in the case.
He sentenced Patterson to nine months in prison suspended for two years, and ordered him to pay £1,000 in compensation.