A man without a real job, but who felt he could tell gardaí to “get a real job”, avoided jail in the District Court this week (September 21 ) for possession of a knife and the theft of some foodstuffs, after he was ordered to do 240 hours community service in lieu of a prison sentence.
Gordon Dowling (34 ) with an address at Grove House, Baylough, Athlone, was observed by gardaí throwing a beer bottle over the church wall - “beside where people were sitting” - on Church Street, Athlone at around 2.55am on April 3.
“When the gardaí came over to him he told them to ‘f-off’ and to ‘get a real job’,” explained Inspector Nicholas Farrell.
“The defendant was subsequently found in possession of a pocket knife for which he could offer no excuse,” said the inspector.
Dowling pleaded guilty to this charge, as well as to the theft of €17 worth of sausages, cheese, chicken noodles, and a torch from Dunnes Store on July 6.
“My client doesn’t have a real job, and is getting to the stage in life when he should be getting on with things,” said defending solicitor, Mark Cooney.
He explained how his client had the knife in his pocket on the day in question because he had used it earlier to adjust a satellite dish and forgot about returning it to his pocket.
However, when Inspector Farrell was revealing Dowling’s 17 previous convictions, he noted the most recent from July 2010 were two consecutive, six-month sentences, suspended for two years.
Judge Seamus Hughes asked the probation officer is she could check Dowling’s suitability for a community service order as: “I’m not inclined to sentence a man to prison for 12 months before I set my sentence”.
However he did warn Dowling: “You are sailing very close to the wind”.
After a brief assessment, the probation officer deemed Dowling suitable for community service, and Judge Hughes ordered him to do the maximum available term of 240 hours.
