Judge Hughes said he had sympathy for Richard Ricky Mulvihill, Lynam’s Flats, Main Street, Ballynacargy and his difficult upbringing but said the time has come for him to stop blaming others.
On December 22, 2013 at 6.45am Mulvihill failed to pay a taxi driver a €40.25 fare from the hospital in Mullingar to Main Street, Ballynacargy.
On July 4, 2013 he jumped onto a tree at the junction of Northgate and Churchgate Street in Athlone and remained on the tree until it broke, telling nearby gardaí that they were “useless p****s” and that he didn’t care about the tree which cost €80 to replace.
A month later he was part of a group who were disturbing and harassing elderly people in the Civic Square in Athlone.
They were abusive to gardaí, and when asked to leave the area, Mulvihill called one garda a fool and said he would laugh at gardaí the next time he saw them in court and said he could get away with anything.
On June 16 last year at 12.30am he was seen climbing onto a wall, pulling a CCTV camera worth €280 off the wall, and throwing it on the roof of the Civic Centre where he had been drinking with friends.
Mulvihill has nine previous convictions for offences, including possession of a weapon, trespass, criminal damage, drug possession, and burglary.
Solicitor Emeria Flood said Mulvihill had been drinking heavily at the time of the incidents, and Mulvihill said he had been homeless at the time. His mother kicked him out of her UK home, he said.
He was reared in foster care, Ms Flood said, adding that he has epilepsy and ADHD, but she admitted she had no evidence of that.
Judge Hughes said Mulvihill suffers from pure thuggery and said he has no respect for people or property.
He was critical that Mulvihill came to court with no compensation, but the young man said he has just finished a computer course and is doing a business course.
Mulvihill told the court he failed to attend on two previous dates because he was afraid that a six month suspended sentence for burglary imposed in Longford in 2011 might be activated.
He plans to study horticulture in September, but Judge Hughes said he can’t allow Mulvihill’s behaviour to continue and that he had already given him a chance.
He imposed consecutive one month prison sentences for failing to pay the taxi driver, abusing the garda at the Civic Square, and the two counts of criminal damage at the same location.
“I respect you’re in a bad place and you don’t come from a privileged background,” said Judge Hughes.
“I have no wish to punish a young man from an unfortunate background but everyone has to take some level of personal responsibility for their actions,” he concluded.
