Portlaoise Court: Man claims he was ‘battered’ by gardaí
Portlaoise Courthouse
A MAN who appeared by video link at Portlaoise District Court claimed he had just been assaulted while in custody, minutes before his case was called.
The man appeared on courtroom monitors last Thursday with blood trickling down from a cut on the top of his head and heavy swelling around his left cheek, just below his eye.
As the case began, he said: “I’ve just been assaulted in here. The prison governor refused and the gardaí refused to give me bail. I paid my bail and done (sic) the 100 hours’ community service. I was assaulted and battered by gardaí.”
Defendant Noel Lawlor from Caddlebrook, Ballingar, Castlerea, Co Roscommon, was before the court for breaching a one-month sentence that was suspended for two years, which was imposed on him on 7 July at Portlaoise District Court for engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour along Main Street in Portlaoise on 17 April.
Judge Patricia Cronin heard that the one-month custodial scene was triggered, when the 62-year-old defendant was handed a three-month sentence six weeks later at Athlone District Court.
Mr Lawlor’s solicitor, Aisling Maloney, who was present in the courtroom, asked for permission to adjourn the case for a week to allow her time to take instructions from her client.
Mr Lawlor told the court: “I have a young family at home. There’s nobody to mind the child. I don’t know who Ms Maloney is working for. I have two solicitors already. One in Athlone, the other in Sligo.”
Judge Cronin said she’d allow Ms Maloney to consult with the defendant before remanding him in custody until the next hearing of the case on 28 August, which will again be heard by video link.
