Loyalist band members guilty of playing sectarian music in Belfast

Five members of a loyalist flute band have been convicted of breaching a number of Parades Comission determinations by playing music at a north Belfast interface.

The five men - members of the Pride of Ardoyne Flute Band - were convicted at Belfast Magistrates Court of breaching the determination on several occasions at the Ardoyne/Twaddell Avenue interface between February and May last year.

The north Belfast men are James Cosby (26) from Glenbryn Road; David Johnsone (23) from Westway Crescent; David John Murphy (38) from Berwick Road; Robert Hayes Spence (57) from Alliance Avenue and Gary Edwin Wells (24) from Loughview Close.

During a previous court hearing, the five defendants were accused of failing to comply with the conditions imposed by the Parades Commission, which prohibited bands from playing music between the junction of Twaddell Avenue and Crumlin Road.

The men made the case that while they did not deny playing music in the area, they didn’t know they were prohibited from doing so. They also made the case that they neither saw the written warnings on the sides of PSNI Landrovers nor heard the verbal warnings that were issues over a loudspeaker.

District Judge Amanda Henderson said that after watching CCTV footage of various incidents at the interface, the signs on the Landrovers were "large" and "clearly-worded" and the audio warnings that were issued via loudspeakers were "very loud".

Ms Henderson also said she was satisfied all five defendants “must at the very least have been aware from the clear audio vocal warnings that to play music in the probihited area was in breach” of the determination.

Saying she was convicting all five men on all the breaches they faced, Judge Henderson said they would be sentenced for the offences on August 26th, 2015.