A student who caused nearly €2,000 worth of damage to a number of cars, throwing a traffic cone through one car window, has been given the benefit of the Probation Act.
Alan Gilligan (22 ) with an address at Tully, Rathcormac, Sligo, appeared at Galway District Court on Monday where he pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to a blue Toyota Yaris, a Citroen Berlingo van, a silver Mercedes Benz, and a black BMW at Sea Road on January 18 2011.
Inspector Mick Coppinger told the court that at 3.20am the defendant caused damage to a number of cars, kicking in the rear windows and throwing at traffic cone through one car window. He added that the total damage caused amounted to €1,966 and that Gilligan has no previous convictions.
Defence solicitor Olivia Traynor said that her client had been a student at NUIG at the time of the offence and that he had consumed a lot of alcohol, however, she added that this was no excuse for his behaviour. Ms Traynor stressed that Gilligan had been in Galway for four years and had never before come to the attention of gardai.
Referring to the alcohol consumed on the night, Ms Traynor said that Gilligan had drunk whiskey for the first time, that he had little recollection, and just remembers waking up in the cell. She added that Gilligan had been making his way to where he was living at the time in Lower Salthill and has since made efforts to pay compensation by working weekends.
Noting that all the compensation has been paid and that the defendant is of previous good character, Judge Aeneas McCarthy applied the Probation Act Section 1(1 ).
“I do not want to see him in here again,” Judge McCarthy warned
