A suspended sentence has been handed down to a man who took part in a performance of Rock the Boat in the middle of a Derry street following a Republic of Ireland football match.

Stephen McKane, 23, of Innisfree Gardens in Strabane, pleaded guilty to charges of disorderly behaviour and obstructing traffic in a public place.

The offence took place around 1.45am on, June 27, following Republic of Ireland’s defeat to France in the knockout stages of Euro 2016.

A Public Prosecutor explained that police attended Shipquay Street where a crowd of around ‘fifty people’ took part in a rendition of Rock the Boat in the middle of the street.

Both lanes of traffic had to be closed off as a result.

When the defendant was approached he ‘continued to chant at police’ and ‘to dance up the road’.

He was detained a short time later at the Diamond and, ‘showed remorse’, before shouting ‘come on you boys in green’ at police officers.

Defence solicitor Ciaran McGuinness said the nightclub closed and the party ‘decamped to the street’.

He suggested there were around seventy people involved, and his client ‘got caught up in the moment with the crowd’.

The court was told McKane is ‘not immune from disorderly behaviour’, but there was ‘no great malice intended’ and he made his way home after the incident.

District Judge Des Perry said ‘he let himself down badly’, and suggested that the 26-year-old needs to learn to go home after a night out.

Sentencing McKane to one month in prison, suspended for eighteen months and fining him £100, he added: “You need to think very carefully when out enjoying yourself.”

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