Woman who was lifted into bus lane pleads guilty to public order offences

Bridget Mongan committed three offences on John Street in Derry

This screengrab of the video shows the woman being dragged from the middle of the road onto a bus lane on John Street. The officers then drive off in an umarked car.
This screengrab of the video shows the woman being dragged from the middle of the road onto a bus lane on John Street. The officers then drive off in an umarked car.

The woman who was filmed on a mobile phone camera being placed in a bus lane by two police officers last year, has pleaded guilty at the Magistrate’s Court in Derry to committing three public order offences on the same day.

Bridget Mongan, (24), whose address was given as Foyle Valley House at Foyle Street in Derry, has admitted assaulting her partner Martin McLaughlin, obstructing a police officer and committing disorderly behaviour.

She committed the three offences on John Street on St Patrick’s Day, 2014 just minutes before she was lifted off the middle of the road by two police officers who then placed her in a bus lane. The camera footage of the incident became an internet sensation.

Mongan’s formal complaint to the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman about the way the officers treated her was upheld and the two officers involved were later disciplined.

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Meanwhile, Mongan’s partner, Martin McLaughlin, (42), from Lisnafin Park in Strabane, Co Tyrone, also pleaded guilty to assaulting her during the same incident on John Street.

The sentencing of both Mongan, who has 25 previous convictions, and of McLaughlin, who has 64 previous convictions, has been adjourned until July 3rd.