A TYRONE teenager was given a three months suspended jail sentence at Cookstown Magistrates Court yesterday for what was described by the police as an "unprovoked sectarian attack" on a Catholic youth.
Raymond William McKnight (17), a kitchen fitter, of Tullywiggan, Cookstown, was also fined £400 for having two offensive weapons - a band pole and a claw hammer.
The assault took place in Cookstown on July 12th last year and the magistrate, Mr Paul McRandal, said it was unfortunately the type of offence which was all too common in the North at present.
The court heard that the Catholic youth had been attacked by five men and McKnight was the only person who had been made amenable to justice.
In the attack, the youth sustained two lacerations on the top of the head as a result of being struck by a hard object.