No one is entitled to be out armed with a potentially dangerous implement, said a district court judge who rubbished an excuse offered by a defendant that he had been carrying a hammer at 4am because he had been doing household work.
At Galway Disctrict Court this week, Judge Mary Fahy was unwilling to accept the excuses offered by Victor Crawley and his solicitor. The 33-year-old, with an address at 4 Cuar Na Lus, Circular Road, was brought before the court for possession of Benzylpiperazine (BZP ) and possession of a hammer on May 1, 2009, at the car park of Dunnes Stores, Westside Shopping Centre.
Inspector Ernie White told the court that at 4am the defendant was stopped by gardai and searched. They found a hammer and four tablets which were first thought to be ecstasy tablets. When questioned about the hammer the defendant said that he had been using it to fix things in the house.
Inspector White further explained that Crawley has 18 previous convictions for public order offences, theft, refusing to give a breath sample, criminal damage and an assault. He also had received the Probation Act in June 2002 for possession of drugs and had served a 10 month sentence for robbery which was imposed in April 2001.
Defence solicitor Valerie Corcoran said that her client suffers from “chronic alcoholism”. She said Crawley had been fixing shelves at a premises in Castlebar and was on the way back on the bus when he met with friends and went drinking. Ms Corcoran said that Crawley was given the tablets, did not know what they were, and had not taken them. The court heard that Crawley had sought treatment in the past and is now living with his mother due to his “very serious alcoholism”.
“He was in Westside with a hammer at 4am and with controlled drugs. He has 18 previous convictions. That story of the hammer being used for household duties is not acceptable to the court,” said Judge Fahy, who convicted Crawley and imposed a total of six months in jail. Leave to appeal was granted.
