(An edited version of this piece was published in the Sunday World September 28th 2014)

Man invented mugging to get benefit

An Omagh man who injured himself falling off a fence when drunk has pleaded guilty at Omagh Magistrates’ Court to wasting police time after he reported he had been robbed by two men. A prosecution lawyer told the court James Duffy later told police he was unemployed. “He thought that if he made up the story he’d get a crisis loan for Christmas,” the lawyer told the court.

The Court heard Duffy had arrived at Omagh Police station in the early hours of December 22^nd last. He was very drunk, bleeding from facial injuries, and bare-chested under a jacket. Duffy claimed two men on bicycles, one with a knife, had robbed him of his wallet on his way home from a pub. Police noted his account kept changing. Despite alleging he had been knocked to the ground, his clothes were neither dirty nor wet. However, the following morning he took a police photographer to the alleged crime scene.

Police later interviewed the manager of the bar where Duffy had been drinking. The manager said he had seen another man try to lift Durry over a high fence round the smoking area. Both men were very drunk, and the other man pushed Duffy too hard.  Duffy fell off the fence and suffer was injured by landing face-first on a hard surface. Duffy had left his clothes on the ground, and the manager gathered them up.

Within 24 hours of reporting the mugging, Duffy apologised to police for concocting the story. A defence lawyer said Duffy should be given credit for his early plea of guilty. “At the time, he was impecunious and on benefit,” the lawyer said.

Twenty-eight year old Duffy, of Clonmore Gardens, Omagh, was given a two-month suspended sentence. Deputy District Judge Peter Prenter ordered him to pay £1,034.17 costs incurred by police in the investigation.