Derry Magistrates’ Court jailed Darren McGrath, 20, of no fixed abode, for four months on Thursday. He admitted two assaults on a mother and daughter visiting Derry from Belfast on March 17, plus assaulting a man and stealing his mobile phone that day.

Police on an anti-social behaviour patrol in the Victoria Market car park responded to a fight report. The defendant asked one woman for a cigarette. After she refused, he punched her on the jaw. Her daughter stepped in, and McGrath punched her in the face. A man held McGrath until officers arrived.

In a separate incident at a St Patrick's night gathering, McGrath borrowed the host's phone to play music. After bullying attendees and being asked to leave, he punched the host. The host later found his phone missing. Police recovered it from McGrath's property after his arrest.

The court heard McGrath has 133 prior convictions. Defence counsel Stephen McNicholl noted the early guilty plea and said McGrath accepted responsibility despite his record. McNicholl added that no one deserved such treatment.

District Judge Oonagh Mullan called McGrath's record shocking before imposing the sentence.