A woman whom the Superintendent of Castlebar described as a “menace” was before Castlebar District Court on Wednesday where she faced a litany of charges ranging from theft, public order, and road traffic offences.
Garda John Melia outlined that on July 11 2011, Winnie McDonagh (also known as Winnie Reilly ) 14 Castlegrove, Castlebar, drove through a red light at Newtown. Garda Melia stopped the defendant at 11.45am on Chapel Street. The tax on the car was expired and McDonagh was told that the car was to be seized. The defendant became abusive towards the garda. The defendant stuck up her middle finger at Garda Melia and said, “you can stick your summonses up your arse.”
McDonagh was also before court for the theft of €105 worth of items from Lifestyle Sports on August 1 2011 and items from McLoughlin’s Bookshop. All items stolen were recovered. The defendant also stole items from Casey’s Centra on September 17 2011 and the Gala Filing Station, Foxford, on February 13 2011.
On September 13 at 4.25pm gardaí were called to New Look as the defendant was barred from the shop. €12.99 jeggings had been taken by her from the shop. McDonagh became aggressive to gardaí and told them t she “hoped they were dead before Christmas”.
On September 19 2011 at 5.20pm gardaí went to Hanley’s Pharmacy as McDonagh refused to leave the premises. McDonagh was abusive to one of the gardaí and called her “Miss Piggy”. McDonagh then turned to another garda and said that she “didn’t give a f**k” about the gardaí or court. McDonagh then sat in her car and told gardaí to “f**k off”. Eventually she got out of the car, turned to Garda Kieran Brett and asked him to look into her eyes and said “you will soon bear a bigger cross soon.”
Castlebar Town Council also brought three littering charges against her. The offences related to January 13, February 10, and May 12 2011 when on these occasions the defendant had left extensive litter outside her home.
McDonagh also faced five no insurance charges. In court she said she had insurance with Quinn Direct. Judge Denis McLoughlin adjourned the insurance matters for mention to February 1 in order to give the defendant time to produce insurance documentation.
The defendant also failed to pay a fixed charge notice for not having a child restrained in the back of the car. McDonagh also faced a dangerous driving charge; the facts of which were not heard in court.
Supt O’Boyle said that McDonagh is a “menace” in the Castlebar area as she “abuses” members of the gardaí and “terrorises” members of staff in shops “on a regular basis”.
McDonagh has 44 previous convictions including a suspended sentence. Judge McLoughlin remanded her on bail to January 18 for the suspended sentence to be dealt with. McDonagh was given bail on the condition that she signs on daily and does not enter any shop where these incidents occurred.
