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Man with 455 convictions jailed for assaulting teenage girls

News imageBBC Shows a large court building with four pillars at the front, a security hut to the left and a silver-coloured car to the extreme left. BBC
The man was sentenced at Bishop Street courthouse on Friday

A man with 455 previous convictions who was described by a judge as a "prolific offender" has been jailed for assaulting two 14-year-old girls.

Damien Joseph Young, 59, of no fixed abode admitted assaulting the girls in Londonderry on 10 December and assaulting a police officer on the same date.

Londonderry Magistrates' Court was told on Friday that the two girls were walking across the Guildhall Square and were approached by Young who spat at one of them and put the other in fear of assault.

A bus driver intervened and was verbally abused by Young.

The incident was captured on CCTV and when police arrived the defendant spat on the face of one officer.

Deputy District Judge John Connolly sentenced Young to five months' immediate custody.