FOLLOWING the first prosecution of its kind in the North, two loyalist bandsmen were yesterday each given a two year conditional discharge for playing drums in a provocative manner during last year's August 12th Apprentice Boys parade in Derry.
Steven Frederick Dawson (26), a joiner, from Gallick Road, Portadown, who denied the offence, is to appeal against his conviction by Resident Magistrate Mr Harold McKibbin. No evidence was offered against Thomas McClements (36), a gardener, from Erinvale Estate, Dunmurry, who admitted the offence.
The court heard that Dawson, a bass drummer with the Portadown Defenders Band, was playing a hymn when his band entered the Diamond in the centre of Derry. The band then stopped close to a group of people, some of whom were dressed in Celtic football club shirts, and started to play "an enthusiastic and loud version" of the Sash.
Dawson's role in the playing was described as pivotal.
An RUC inspector said the friendly atmosphere in the Diamond area during the parade became quite ugly when several bands, including the Portadown Defenders, stopped beside an opposing group of spectators.
Mr William Moore, general secretary of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, told the court that his organisation had held several meetings with the RUC in the run up to last year's parade. He said the police had decided not to erect a security screen, which would have been located close to where the hostile crowd had gathered.
"I was surprised because this is a flashpoint area, but the means of policing the parade is up to the RUC and I did not object. I was surprised the police allowed a crowd to congregate there because this was something they did not allow to take place in previous years. It was a nationalist crowd because of the colours they were carrying and because of the shirts they were wearing," he said.
Dawson said when he entered the Diamond the first thing he noticed was people wearing Celtic tops and scarves. He said the band only stopped beside them because the parade further ahead had stopped. He denied playing the Sash in a frenetic and provocative manner.
Describing the case as being fraught with danger, the magistrate said the defendant's manner of his rendition of the Sash was in the circumstances likely to lead to a breach of the peace.
The court was told that the evidence against McClements, who was bass drummer for the Finaghy True Blues, was of a similar nature.