WITH more than 200 parking spaces available at Portlaoise hospital, a motorist decided to park his van in a loading bay. In so doing, he was fined €150 when his case came before a recent sitting of Portlaoise District Court.

JUDGE Andrew Cody noted that a man who came before Portlaoise District Court was the same age as him, to which a garda sergeant replied: “He has a different lifestyle to yours.

A PENSIONER was last week fined €1,400 and put off the road for two years after he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of cocaine and to dangerous driving.

A GARDA who attended a collision between a car and an articulated lorry found an open bottle of Powers Whiskey on the floor the car.

The court was told that the man “was screaming, covered in blood and kicking out trying to hurt gardaí and paramedics”.

The defending barrister said that if his 40-year-old client is convicted, it “would have an impact on his employment”.

AN EMPLOYEE of the Prison Service who is applying to join the gardaí was convicted of motoring offences at last week’s sitting of Portlaoise District Court.

JUDGE Susan Fay issued an bench warrant for the arrest of a Portarlington man who failed to appear at last week’s sitting of Portlaoise District Court.

GARDAÍ failed to provide a defendant with any or all evidence relating to an alleged drink-driving charge because “they were tied up with administrative duties”.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is seeking to overturn a Laois District Court judge’s “unreasonable and irrational” refusal to convict more than 30 drivers of alleged speeding on a road in Co Kildare.

The 41-year old was described as a 'very hard working woman'.

A LAOIS man who is charged with rape, threatening to kill and to assaults causing serious harm to a woman will be presented with a book of evidence at the 8 May sitting of Portlaoise District Court.

The Judge remanded the woman in her absence on her own bail and adjourned the case for finalisation.

TWO men charged with possessing firearms with the intention to endanger life at a halting site in Tullamore, Co. Offaly were remanded in custody when they appeared at Portlaoise District Court yesterday afternoon.

AN elderly man who was drunk in the middle of the day and tripped a kid off a scooter avoided a conviction after the judge accepted his tale of personal woe.

AT a recent sitting of Portlaoise District Court, Judge Susan Fay said that a man who was not present because his wife was undergoing a scan was “surplus to requirement.

A DELIVERY man who works in a restaurant in Co Carlow was last week handed a suspended sentence ,after he was found guilty by Judge Geraldine Carthy at Carlow District Court of sexually assaulting his supervisor.

“He was in a mess, spiralled for a while, and got into things he shouldn’t have, but he’s in steady employment now"

JUDGE Susan Fay noted that a man’s taste had “become more expensive” as a litany of thefts progressed when he came before her at last week’s sitting of Portlaoise District Court.

“THAT’S a lot of reading!” remarked a judge in a case where a woman pleaded guilty to the theft of €150 worth of newspapers. However, it was her back story that offered a darker underlay to the proceedings.