Man tried to get into car while it was moving, Portlaoise court hears
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A MAN who tried to get into a moving car, while in an intoxicated state, was remanded on bail at last week’s sitting of Portlaoise District Court.
Garda Sgt Kirby said that on 23 October last, gardaí has set up a roadside checkpoint on the N77 just outside Durrow. At 12.03am that morning, gardaí saw a man pulling on the door handle of a vehicle that was moving, slowing as it approached the checkpoint. When gardaí went to investigate, the defendant turned his attention on them and began aggressively abusing them.
Judge Andrew Cody asked whether he had heard the evidence correctly that “a man was driving a car and he (the defendant) tried to get into the passenger side while it was still moving.” Sgt Kirby said that they were the facts in the case.
Before the court was James O’Reilly (22), St Mary’s Crescent, Hebron Road, Kilkenny.
He pleaded guilty to interfering with a mechanically propelled vehicle without lawful authority or reasonable cause, being intoxicated in a public place and to engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour at the time.
Defending solicitor Barry Fitzgerald said that his client had been drinking all that day and “was trying to make his way back home to Kilkenny. Alcohol was a factor of his life at the time of the offending.” Judge Cody remanded Mr O’Reilly on continuing bail to 14 January and asked that a victim impact statement be canvassed and that he engages with the probation services in the meantime.
