A court in Belfast has jailed a Spanish man for four years after he admitted injuring a policewoman during riots in north Belfast last year.
The officer was hurt after a concrete block was dropped on her head.
There were 48 police officers injured during three nights of violent rioting in Ardoyne last July.
One of those hurt was a young policewoman, who was struck with breeze block.
Today, 29-year-old Rodger Costa, originally from Barcelona but with an address in south Belfast, was jailed for four years for attempting to commit grievous bodily harm to the officer.
His victim, the court heard, was left in excruciating pain.
Passing sentence today, Judge Tom Burgess said Costa had intentionally armed himself and thrown several pieces of heavy masonry at police.
He said the politics and journalism graduate was lucky not to be facing more serious charges as he could easily have caused fatal injuries.
The judge said the community of Northern Ireland had welcomed Costa but that their 'welcome has been poorly repaid'.
He added that he could not hand down a jail term which would allow the man go home in the near future as 'he still owes a debt to society here'.
