Galway Advertiser 2004/2004_10_21/GA_2110_E1_026.pdf 

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26

N E W S

IN THE COURTS

October 21 2004

Racist remarks land Athlone Poor to benefit from stag party group in court
The wedding of a Roscommon man next week has been marred following his appearance before Galway District Court this week along with three of his friends due to a disturbance at a Galway city hotel where racist remarks were made to an employee. Groom-to-be, Robert Glennon (32), Coolderry, Four Roads, Roscommon, was celebrating his stag party at Jurys Inn, Spanish Arch, Galway, on September 26 last with friends, Brian Cormican(28), Mount Talbot, Athlone; Kieran Coyle (32), Four Roads, Roscommon; and William Fallon (42), Lysterfield, Curraghboy, Athlone, when gardai were called to a disturbance there at around 2.30am. All four were arrested and charged with breaching the peace and being drunk in public. They pleaded guilty to the charges in court. Garda Evelyn Ryan told the court the group were very abusive towards her and she was told to mind her own business. Coyle, she said, was the worst and she heard him tell a member of staff, who was a non-national, to go back to his own country because he was only robbing us. He also told the garda she would be better off minding his own business when she intervened. Cormican, Garda Ryan said, instigated the whole thing by setting off a fire extinguisher in a hallway. Fallon and Glennon had not been so bad, she added. Judge Mary Fahy said it was too bad that a group of men could not go out and celebrate impending nuptials without acting like this. She said the racist remarks were outrageous before fining Fallon and Glennon, who were not as bad as the other two, 300 for breaching the peace and taking the charge of being drunk in public, into account. The judge criticised Coyle for making racist remarks and wondered how he would like it if people from Galway told him to stay in Athlone. She fined him and Cormican 300 each for breaching the peace and 100 for being drunk in public.

landlord's dispute with tenant
A landlord who had an ongoing dispute with a former tenant over alleged damage to his house, was ordered to pay 250 to the poor box at Galway District Court after he admitted trespassing at the tenant's new rental address. Gerard Nestor, 5 Grattan Park, Galway, had had a row with former tenant, Anthony Myles, over alleged damage caused to one of his rental houses at College Road, some time earlier and also over payment of arrears. Defence solicitor Jim Nash said his client had been in dispute with Myles who had left his rented house after considerable damage had been caused to it. Myles moved out and left no forwarding address. Mr Nash said he had written several letters on his client' behalf to Myles but his address was not known at the time. Some time later the accused found out that Myles had moved to a corporation house at 78, Ard Alainn, Ballybane, and he went to the house. Garda Ronan Mahon told the court that Nestor went into the house uninvited. An argument took place upstairs in a room and a glass panel over the door there was broken. Mr Nash asked Judge Mary Fahy not to record a conviction against his client who was a good man with no previous convictions. Judge Fahy said she assumed Nestor was a landlord of note, and she agreed not to convict him and would apply the Probation Act instead if he gave 250 to the court poor box, which, she added, was coming under pressure already from charitable groups and individuals on the run-up to Christmas. The money was handed into court immediately.

Speeding motorist convicted of careless driving
A motorist who was travelling at 85ph and claimed he had not seen a Garda standing on the roadway flagging him down, was convicted of careless driving at Galway District Court. Donal Costello, a native of Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary, who is an engineer working in Boston Scientific, in Galway, had originally been charged with dangerous driving but pleaded to the lesser charge of careless which was accepted by the prosecution. He was also charged with failing to stop on the same occasion. Garda Ronan Mahon said he was operating a speed check on the dual carriageway at Gurraune, Oranmore, on May 30 last at 8.20am when Costello's car failed to stop for him. The vehicle, he said, was doing 98mph. The garda stood out on the road and flagged the accused down but he failed to stop. Defence solicitor Peter Crowley said the wide carriageway was very quiet at that hour of a Sunday morning and his client had not seen the Ggrda. Judge Mary Fahy said Costello's driving was outrageous and that the road was the same width for him as for everyone else. Costello told the judge he truly didn't see Garda Mahon. He saw the Garda van and just thought it would take his picture and would send out a ticket to him. Judge Fahy observed the accused had incurred penalty points and rightly so. She considered imposing a disqualification but Mr Crowley asked her not to because her client had a very good job, had learnt his lesson and would never come before the court again. "Given the hundreds of people already killed on the roads this year it's with reluctance I'm reducing the charge to that of careless driving and not disqualifying him," she said. She then fined Costello 300 on that charge and a further 200 for failing to stop for Garda Mahon.

Young man found with 10,000 Ecstasy tablets jailed for other offences
A Salthill youth who is charged with being in possession of 10,000 worth of Ecstasy tablets was warned to stay away from a local national school as part of his bail conditions when he appeared before Galway District Court earlier this week. Hannes Dunne(18), 8 Hilltop Apartments, Dalysfort Road, Salthill, was arrested at 5.10 pm on Sunday evening last by Garda Shaun Durkan and charged with the offence. He was also charged with being in possession of the drugs for sale or supply to others on the same date. Inspector Noel Kelly told the court that a file was being prepared for the DPP and he would not object to bail, providing it was substantial given the estimated value of the drugs. Judge Mary Fahy remanded the accused in custody to appear before the court again today (Thursday), with consent to bail on one independent surety of 6,000, one third of which is to be lodged in cash. Other bail conditions include; that he stay away from Claddagh National School, reside at the above address, sign on twice weekly at his local Garda Station, and not apply for a passport. In a separate incident Dunne pleaded guilty to taking a truck at Lenaboy, Salthill on May 21 last, with hit and run, drunken driving, and not having insurance. Inspector Kelly said Dunne drove the truck around Knocknacarra and knocked down some trees in a housing estate before colliding with a BMW at a junction and then crashing into a wall. A blood sample showed a reading of 203mgs of alcohol per 100mls of breath. Dunne had no insurance or driving licence at the time. Defence solicitor Adrian MacLynn said it was really a sad case because his client had been drinking since he was 13 and taking drugs since he was 15. He came from a broken home and his mother had thrown him out. He lived with his father who worked nights and he didn't have time to take care of his son. Judge Mary Fahy said it was a miracle Dunne had only knocked down trees and thankfully it was not people. His blood/alcohol reading was horrifically high, she noted. "Unfortunately, his parents didn't take responsibility for him and the court cannot dictate that they come in here because he is 18," the judge said. She sentenced the accused to a total of 16 months in prison on all charges and fixed recognisance in the event of an appeal.

Frustrated sportsman Suspended sentence for vented his feelings on Tuam man who refused to give sample car mirrors
A science student kicked wing mirrors off parked cars as he made his way home after watching this year's All-Ireland football final with friends following a day's drinking. James White (21), a native of Co Donegal, with an address at 51 Glen Dara, Bishop O'Donnell Road, Galway, pleaded guilty to damaging three cars at a total cost of 505, and to breaching the peace and being drunk in public, when arrested by Garda Darragh Browne at 3.16am at Dominick Street, Galway, on September 27 last. Defence solicitor Donal Geraghty said his client worked part time to help pay his way through college and had no time to play sports like he used to which would be some sort of release for him. On the night in question White had quite a lot of drink taken. He was very sorry for what he did and had paid compensation. Judge Mary Fahy said White should have more sense. She rejected the suggestion that White's actions were some sort of release because he didn't play sports. She suggested instead that he had surplus money to buy drink and while that was his own business it became the public's business when he started kicking mirrors off people' cars. She convicted and fined him 300 for breaching the peace, 200 for damaging one of the cars and took the remaining charges for criminal damage and being drunk in public, into account. A Tuam man was given a suspended sentence, fined 600, and disqualified from driving for two years when he appeared before Galway District Court this week. Paddy McDonnell (30), Garden Field, Tuam, pleaded guilty to refusing to give a breath sample when arrested on suspicion of drunken driving at Tuam Road, Galway, at 3.28am on September 19, and to resisting arrest by Garda Ronan Mahon on the same date. Defence solicitor Adrian MacLynn said his client was agitated when arrested. He suffered from alcohol dependency syndrome and had a history of alcohol related offending. Inspector Noel Kelly said the accused had previous convictions for drunken driving in 2001, and hit and run on September 3 last when he was disqualified from driving for two years. Mr MacLynn said his client wished to attend Sr Consillio's Treatment Centre in Coolarne and he asked Judge Mary Fahy not to impose a custodial sentence. Judge Fahy said Sr Consillio's had been used as an excuse by many who tried to evade a sentence but this defendant had committed an offence again so soon after the last one. She imposed a four-month sentence for refusing to give a sample and a further one-month sentence for resisting arrest. The sentences were suspended because the disqualification imposed on the accused earlier in September had not come into effect at the time of this latest offence. The judge imposed fines totalling 600 also and disqualified him from driving for three years.