A Lithuanian man who is currently serving a prison term was given 20 months in prison this week after pleading guilty to a number of offences including possession of drugs for sale, assault and driving while disqualified.
The court was told that on January 16 2010 Garda Donal Raftery saw Linas Butrinovicius, 24 Meadow Court, Claremorris, driving a car at Elm Park, Claremorris and stopped and arrested him as he knew that Butrinovicius was currently serving a driving ban.
Inspector Joe Doherty then told the court that on January 29 2010 at 11.15pm, gardaí searched his house on foot of a bench warrant and found 22.81g of speed which was divided into eight deal bags, the value of which was €570. They also found 302 MBZP tablets which at the time were not illegal but have since been criminalised. Then at 12.30am on January 30 2010, gardaí answered a domestic disturbance call at a different address in the town. When they arrived Butrinovicius jumped out of a fourth floor window to the ground and made his escape, and when they searched the area where he had jumped from they found 6.23 grams of speed divided into six deal bags worth a total value of €158.
On April 7, at 11.30pm Garda Donal Raftery and Garda Kelly were on patrol when they saw Butrinovicius in a car and stopped it as they knew that he was at large and wanted. He tried to flee the scene and was stopped by Garda Kelly, only for Butrinovicius to assault him and punch him in the face before escaping. On August 15 2010, Butrinovicius assaulted a man in Supermacs in Claremorris which broke his shin bone; he was identified by CCTV footage at the scene.
The final charge to which Butrinovicius pleaded guilty was when he was involved in the theft of a television from a house in Claremorris on October 20 2009. He was identified by the owner of the house when he disturbed Butrinovicius and his accomplice.
For the possession for sale or supply of 22.81 grams of speed on January 29, Butrinovicius was convicted and sentenced to eight months in prison, and for the possession for sale or supply on January 30 he was convicted and sentenced to eight months in prison to be served concurrently. For the assault on Garda Kelly he was convicted and sentenced to four months in prison to be served consecutively. For the assault on August 15 he was convicted and sentenced to eight months in prison. For driving without insurance while disqualified he was sentenced to four months in prison to be served concurrently and disqualified from driving for five years. For the theft of the television set he was convicted and sentenced to eight months in prison to be served concurrently. All sentences were backdated to October 8 2010, when Butrinovicius was given a prison sentence on different charges.
