Bareknuckle fighter escapes with a fine after brawling with his brother at Dungannon filling station

Stephen McDonagh, 26, from Castleview Park, Omagh appeared at Dungannon Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

The court heard how police were alerted to two men fighting at Ballgawley Road filling station on the morning of November 30.

When police arrived, they found the filling station forecourt packed with vans and spectators. The defendant told police he had been attacked by his brother. CCTV footage showed that McDonagh had been filling a fuel can when he began shouting and gesturing at another driver who had pulled into the forecourt.

When the other driver gestured back, the defendant put down the can and adopted a fighting stance. The footage then showed the two men occasionally trading blows, before being separated by the spectators, and then resuming to their fighting stances.

The prosecuting counsel told the court that the men in the forecourt had shared the same name.

The defence solicitor said there had been an unhappy history between the two brothers, who had happened upon each other by accident. The brawl had not been prearranged in any way, he told the court.

The defendant claimed he was set upon by his brother, and that for a time the fight was two to one, and he had been spurred into action to defend himself.

The judge said that McDonagh had stayed out of trouble for four years since his last and only offence. He decided to impose a fine of £100, including an offender’s levy of £15.