A man who refused to provide his name and address to Gardaí when he was arrested outside a city pub had to have a special court hearing arranged the following morning as a result.
When the case came before Judge Fiona Lydon at Galway District Court she told him that she was considering a custodial sentence, as the Gardaí were busy enough and under-resourced and didn’t need the likes of him wasting their time.
The Court heard the defendant was drinking in Monroe’s Tavern on Dominick Street on the evening of August 23 last. He was thrown out by the security staff and became aggrieved as he felt he was being picked on.
His solicitor pleaded that his client “hardly had a drop in over a year and the alcohol clouded his judgement.” He added that his client didn’t normally drink, and once he sobered up he co-operated with Gardaí.
The Judge was told that when Gardaí arrived on the scene they found the defendant, a man in his forties, drunk and being abusive. He continued with his aggressive behaviour toward the Gardaí, refusing to give his details and had to be arrested. Because Gardaí could not establish his identity they had to arrange for him to be brought before a special Court sitting the following morning where his identity was established before bail was granted.
Judge Lydon ordered him to do 100 hours’ community service in lieu of three months’ imprisonment and warned him to think again before refusing to give his details and wasting Garda time, as she was considering imposing the prison sentence.
