A young man with some learning difficulties and known to the system, who shouted in court that he’d stab a garda, then punched one and spat in the face of another, was released on a multi-conditional bail from the District Court last week (December 16 ).
Alan McManus (23 ), with an address at Brawney Square, Athlone was at court to answer a number of other charges of assault, trespass and public order at the home of a woman in Marine View, Athlone on November 29.
However, due to the size of the court list at what were the last hearings of the year and the stop-start nature of the proceedings on a number of sensitive matters, there were a number of small confrontations in the hallway and outside the courthouse.
McManus got involved in one of these, refused to follow a garda’s direction to leave the scene, and got arrested again.
When being brought into the dock he spat in the face of Garda Keith Harrison and used the greater stage to voice his obvious disapproval.
“I’m sick of them, judge,” he shouted to the bench.
“They’re aways up the town picking on me. I’ll stab one of them. I’ll put one in the grave,” he wailed, before attempting another lunge at Garda Harrison.
In this minor melee, Garda Brian Boland took a punch before himself, Gardas Horkan and Harrison, and Inspector Nicholas Farrell subdued McManus and took him to an interview room upstairs to calm down.
Over the last number of years McManus had been at the centre of an ongoing dispute between the health boards and the court services.
Unable to find anywhere appropriate for a youth offender with learning difficulties when he first started appearing in court, Judge Michael Reilly sent him to the only facility in Britain and Ireland that could cope with McManus’s unique set of difficulties.
He thrived at this facility in Teeside near Middlesborough for 18 months until the cost - estimated to have been in the region of €300,000 - became an issue for the health services and McManus was returned to Ireland.
As his behaviour deteriorated and he appeared in court more and more, Judge Reilly regularly voiced his disappointment with the HSE over its perceived foot-dragging in finding an appropriate placement.
Eventually, at the age of 21, he ceased to be the responsibility of the HSE, and whatever problems McManus had became those of the Department of Justice instead.
Last Tuesday, after he had calmed down in the company of a garda known to him, he apologised to the court and admitted in answer to one of his latest assault charges: “I did assault you, yeah”.
Judge David Anderson bailed McManus to the supervision of his parents under four specific conditions - namely, that he observe an 8pm to 8am curfew, sign on daily at Athlone Garda station, refrain from alcohol and other intoxicants, and take his medication as prescribed.
He adjourned hearing all other matters to January 7.
