Laois man gets prison for being drunk in public

A MAN convicted on public order charges had his jail sentence cut by a month after his solicitor reminded the court that the maximum sentence on the charge was three months, not four.

William Donoghue (25), of the Crescent, Ballylinan, Co Laois appeared at Athy District Court from custody as he is presently serving another three-month sentence for an unspecified offence.

He was charged with being drunk in public and using threatening/abusive/behaviour at his given address on 30 December but pleaded not guilty and Judge Desmond Zaidan decided to hear the case.

Arresting officer garda Matthew McGrath was the state’s only witness and he began by describing the scene.

“After answering a number of calls, I came across the defendant, who appeared heavily intoxicated. He fled the scene, came back to the scene and became extremely aggressive in the property,” he said.

“He was dangerously intoxicated, with cuts to his hand and face, and was arrested for his own safety,” said Garda McGrath.

“What exactly did he say?” asked Sergeant Dave Hanrahan.

“He wanted to have a fight with me and my colleague, there was a lot of bravado … he was out of his mind on drink and drugs,” said garda McGrath.

“There was a lot of family members in the area, but something must have happened prior to our arrival.

“There was profound use of bad language, ‘fu*k you, you’re the big man, I’m a fightin’ man, I could take the pair of ye’ … he wasn’t of sound mind, so we had to take him at his word.

“We thought he would de-escalate when inside the property.”

‘No Witnesses’

Defending solicitor Chloe Donegan argued: “We have no witnesses or statements from members of the public and there was no evidence to say he was a danger to himself.”

She asked: “How did you know he was intoxicated?”

“His eyes were rolling in his head, he wasn’t making any sense what he was talking about, he was out of his mind,” replied garda McGrath.

“None of this was in your precis of evidence,” noted Ms Donegan.

“I was left with no option, he was frenzied and would’ve caused harm to himself or others,” said the garda.

“I wasn’t going to let him fall over, so I had to arrest him,” he added.

“Did you ask him about the cuts to his hands and face?” asked Ms Donegan.

“I attempted to hold a conversation, but he was not capable,” said the garda.

The defendant’s brother-in-law Stephen O’Shea from Carlow then took the stand to give supporting evidence for the defendant.

He testified Mr Donoghue was in the front garden “at all times, never left it” and wasn’t a danger to himself.

“There was unsavoury action reported from the estate that night. Did you see any of it?” asked the judge. “Did you see the guards?”

“Yes, there were a good few, maybe 10 or 15,” replied Mr O’Shea.

“Would you be surprised to hear there were just two?” said Sgt Hanrahan.

“There were more than that,” said Mr O’Shea.

“The prosecution haven’t proven their case and my client was within the confines of his own property at all times,” said Ms Donegan.

“This court has to use common sense and can draw inferences,” said the judge. “He was not the master of his own mind and so I am satisfied the state has proven its case.”

In mitigation, Ms Donegan said he had a release date of 9 August and his partner had accompanied him to court but that it had been “a very bad year for them” with personal loss outlined.

“Because of the personal tragedy in their lives, I’ll sentence four months on the section 4 charge (public intoxication),” said the judge.

“I’ve been very good to him,” he added.

However, Ms Donegan reminded the judge that the maximum sentence for being drunk in public was three months, after the judge amended the sentence to 90 days.