Defence counsel Michael Boyd accepted: ““It was a tour de force of reprehensible behaviour”
06:00, 16 May 2026
The world famous Crown Bar(Image: Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)
A man has been jailed for “appalling” assaults on PSNI officers after being arrested over a suspected burglary at Belfast’s best known pub.
Reuben Glen, 36, kicked a police woman in the chest during a series of attacks outside the Crown Bar.
He also tried to headbutt and spit on two of her colleagues before smearing excrement over the walls of a custody cell.
Defence counsel Michael Boyd accepted: ““It was a tour de force of reprehensible behaviour.”
Glen, of Colban Crescent in Lurgan, Co Armagh, was ordered to serve six months in prison.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard police received reports of a break-in at the Crown Bar on March 10 this year.
The three officers located Glen in an entrance lobby area of the historic liquor saloon on Great Victoria Street.
He was between one open door and an inner door which remained locked, a Crown lawyer said.
Arrested and cautioned on suspicion of burglary, he replied: “How about I stick a head in your nose.”
The defendant then attempted to headbutt one of the policemen before being taken to the ground.
As the female officer tried to apply limb restraints she was kicked in the chest area, forcing her to stumble back in pain.
During the struggle Glen spat at another of the officers before being taken into custody.
Prosecutors revealed he went on to smear excrement over the walls of a cell at Musgrave Police Station.
Never charged with any burglary offence, Glen was released unconditionally over the suspected attempt to break into the Crown Bar.
However, he pleaded guilty to three assaults on police, resisting arrest and criminal damage offences.
Glen’s barrister told the court he acted while heavily under the influence of either drink or drugs.
“There is no putting any gloss on this, he accepts his behaviour was completely unacceptable,” Mr Boyd said.
But District Judge Steven Keown highlighted a pre-sentence report in which the defendant claimed the fault lay with police.
“There is minimisation and victim-blaming going on in this case,” Mr Keown stated.
Sentencing Glen to six months custody, the judge added: “His record is appalling and the facts are appalling.”
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