Judge Geoffrey Browne gave a man with a long history of convictions one last chance in Ballyhaunis District Court this week. Stephen King, Apartment 2, Pinewoods, Station Road, Castlebar, pleaded guilty to criminal damage charges after he threw a gas cylinder through a shop window in Ballyhaunis. The court heard that on February 13 2009 King entered Moran’s shop in Ballyhaunis and bought a packet of cigarettes and handed over a €10 note and was given his change. He came back a short time later and said he had handed in a €50 note, when he was told it was €10 he became aggressive and abusive, which culminated in King going outside and throwing a gas cylinder through the window of the shop causing €340 worth of damage.
Prior to the court King returned to the shop and handed over €150 compensation and told the court he would pay the rest of the money owed for the damages. Judge Geoffrey Browne told King he was giving him two choices, the first was to convict him and sentence him to five months in prison suspended for two years. The second was that he keep to the peace for two years as long as he pays the remainder of the money owed by March 14, or he would serve three months in prison. King told the court he would pay over the rest of the money by March 14.
