PSNI officer charged in Galgorm wedding incident identified

The wedding was held at the Galgorm hotel near Ballymena

A police officer charged with assault and drink driving over an incident at a County Antrim hotel can be identified by the media, a judge has ruled.

The incident happened during a wedding at the Galgorm Spa and Golf Resort, near Ballymena, in September.

Thirty year old Marcus Brush was off-duty at the time.

The officer, whose address was given as c/o PSNI Brooklyn, Belfast, faces charges of common assault of two men and two women.

He is also accused of using disorderly behaviour on licensed premises, namely the Galgorm Hotel and driving with excess alcohol on the Fenaghy Road in Cullybackey on 22 September.

The defence had applied for the police officer to remain anonymous.

However, ruling in favour of the media on Thursday, District Judge Nigel Broderick told Ballymena Magistrates' Court he was not satisfied "that the evidence meets the high test" to depart from the principle of open justice.

He thereby allowed the media to name the constable as the defendant.

The judge handed down a written ruling where he outlined that despite a recent major data breach in which thousands of police officers' names and details were released in error, "there is no evidence that he is the subject of any threat".

"Nor is there evidence that naming him and that he is a police officer would present a real and immediate risk to life," the judge added.

Mr Brush has been suspended pending the outcome of the court case and a PSNI professional standards investigation.

Following the judge's ruling, a prosecuting lawyer told the court the Public Prosecution Service decision of how the case will proceed remains outstanding so she was applying for a two-week adjournment.

The judge adjourned the case until 16 November.