Galway Advertiser 2002/2002_04_18/GA_18042002_E1_028.pdf 

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Man jailed for razor assault on woman at UCHG
A man who had just been released from the psychiatric unit at UCHG a few hours before, came back to the hospital in the early hours of the morning and held a razor to a woman's throat before being arrested. Declan Quinlivan, a native of Ennis, with an address at 76 Innishannagh Park, Galway, pleaded guilty to having a disposable razor in his possession on February 19 last, to cause injury to a person by putting his hands around a woman's neck and holding the razor to her throat. He also pleaded guilty to assaulting the woman. Inspector Pat Lehane said Quinlivan had been discharged from the psychiatric unit the previous day, but at 3am on the following morning he returned and grabbed a woman outside the main door of the hospital. He knocked her to the ground and held the razor to her throat. The assault was witnessed by a garda who rescued the woman and arrested Quinlivan. He was taken immediately to the psychiatric unit, but a doctor there refused to admit him, stating that he was not in need of psychiatric care. Defending solicitor Adrian MacLynn said his client had been put on medication. However, he had stopped taking his tablets and had gone drinking after his release from the psychiatric unit. Quinlivan's brother, Patrick, said his brother was normally quiet when he took his medication, but on the day this occurred he had been drinking 'Wicked' blue vodka after they had an argument. He said their sister had been burnt in a house fire in Cork last week and was critically ill in hospital there. He said he wanted the accused to visit her. Judge John Garavan sympathised with their predicament but he asked the witness to consider the terror the young woman had felt when a razor had been held to her throat. "Think of her agony. Every night lately there is a murder or death in Ireland and that woman will suffer till the day she dies because of this," the judge said. He imposed two six-month sentences, to run concurrently on each charge.

Garda U S E S umbrella to
F E N D OFF B E G G A R
An off duty Garda had to use his umbrella to fend off an aggressive beggar who threatened to cut his throat when he refused to give him money. Garda Darren Egan said he was in plain clothes and was walking back to Galway Garda Station over O'Brien's bridge at 8.30pm on November 29 last when he was accosted by Michael Mongan, from 53 Droim Chaoin, Galway, who asked for money. Garda Egan told Mongan he had no money to give him and he told Galway District Court this week he became concerned when Mongan became aggressive and threatened to cut his throat. "I had to put my umbrella between us when 1 heard he wanted to cut my throat because he [Mongan] became quite aggressive," the Garda said. He added that Mongan had a few children with him at the time. Garda Egan did not attempt to arrest Mongan but he identified him two days later when he was arrested for drunken driving. He said he had seen Mongan begging around the city in the past also. Judge John Garavan asked if Mongan knew he was a garda, but Garda Egan replied that he didn't. He said it was raining at the time and dark. "You could have been an ordinary guy going home and to be set upon and put in fear like that; it's just not on," the judge said, before convicting Mongan of assaulting Garda Egan, a breach of the peace, and for begging. He issued a bench warrant for his arrest and indicated that he had a term of three months imprisonment in mind for the offences.

YOUTH WITH 2 0 PREVIOUS C O N V I C T I O N S G I V E N ' B A D B O Y ' TAG
A youth who has 20 previous convictions for driving without insurance was christened 'Bad Boy McDonagh' by Judge John Garavan at Galway District Court this week. William McDonagh, 35 Lios na Run, Ballybane, is already serving 12 months for these crimes, but in court this week a further two months were added on for two more similar offences. Garda Muiris Quinn said he saw McDonagh driving at Sandy Road. Galway. on February 1 last without insurance. There was a gasp from the public in court when Garda Quinn said McDonagh had 20 previous convictions for driving without insurance. "We will have to call him 'Bad Boy McDonagh' from now on with a record like that. It's outrageous to think he now has 21 convictions for driving without insurant." Judge Garavan said before he imposed a one-month sentence, to run consecutively to McDonagh's current sentence. Moments later, McDonagh featured again when Garda Darren Egan said he found the accused driving without insurance at the scene of an accident on August 10 last. Imposing another month to run consecutively to the other sentences. Judge Garavan said the numbers of young people who take cars, get involved in accidents, drive without insurance and just d o n ' t care had reached epidemic proportions in Galway.

Woman crashed into 72-year old man three cars as she convicted of assault learned to drive after White House row
A 72-years-old man who was involved in a long-running feud with another man, ended up before Galway District Court this week where be was convicted of assault. Patrick Holland, from B a l l y n a c o u r t y , Clarenbridge, pleaded guilty to assaulting Brian Martyn, at the White House pub in Oranmore. on September 30 last year. Sergeant John Gormally said Holland threw the contents of his pint glass of beer into Mr Martyn's face and then struck him with the glass into the side of the face. He said there was a long-standing feud between both men. Defending solicitor. Michael Molloy. said his client was never in court before and was deeply embarrassed by what had happened. He had been taking up to 15 tablets a day at the time for a medical condition and had drunk two pints on the day. which had caused him to react in the way he did. Judge John Garavan said it was quite inappropriate behaviour before be convicted and fined Holland 3 0 0 , phis 1 0 0 witnesses' expenses.

Liverpudlian hit woman in face with pint glass
A Liverpool man who came to work in Galway last week has spent most of the tune in custody after he hit a local woman in the face with a pint glass in a city nightclub. Joseph Boughton, from Liverpool, assaulted the young student in the Alley Nightclub last Thursday night. She sustained cuts to her nose and forehead and was still visibly shaken by her ordeal when she appeared in court this week. Garda Vincent Jennings said Boughton and a group of friends had been drinking a lot on Friday evening and they went to the nightclub later that night. The injured woman was with another woman, whom Boughton and his friends were messing with. The injured woman put her hand out to stop them and Boughton hit her into the face with his glass. The court heard he had meant to throw the contents of the glass at her but the glass hit her as well. Garda Jennings said it was lucky for her she was wearing glasses at the time because these saved her eyes. Boughto, he said, was very drunk at the time and had a hazy recollection of what happened. Defending solicitor, Sean O'Carroll said his client was apologising for what happened and if given a chance would pay compensation to the woman. Her father told the court she may need plastic surgery to her nose and he was unsure if the injury above her eye would leave a scar. He said she was attending their local GP and was still quite upset. Judge John Garavan said it was a very serious case and substantial compensation would have to be paid to the unfortunate woman. He asked her father to get a medical report from the woman's doctor and bring it to court next week. He then remanded Boughton in custody with consent to bail, to appear before the court again next Monday.

A non-national who crashed into three of her neighbours' cars as she was learning to drive up and down the street outside h e r home, was convicted of driving without insurance at Galway District Court this week. Anne Marie Thian. 13 Cnoc na Cille, Ballybane, denied she was learning to drive and claimed she accidentally put her foot on the accelerator when she sat into her husband's car while he was cleaning it. Her husband, however, told Garda Muiris Quinn, who was called to the scene, he was teaching his wife to drive up and down the road outside when the incident occurred on August 21 last. Garda Quinn said Thian. who has no English, admitted at the scene that she was been driving. Her husband had interpreted for her, the garda said, because be had no French and she had no English. Defending solicitor, Sean O'Carroll said his client just touched the accelerator and the car jumped forward. Two of her neighbours had been compensated and the third was in the process of being compensated, he added. Judge John Garavan fined Thian 2 0 0 for not having insurance and disqualified her from driving for one year.

Clarification
In a court case published here last week, the address of a defendant in a case being heard at Galway District Court was given as 13 Whitestrand Ave, Galway. This should have read 13 Whitestrand Park.