A Mullingar man has been fined €550 for public order offences.
Darren Fitzsimons was highly intoxicated on Oliver Plunkett Street at 2am on August 22. When cautioned by gardaí and asked to leave the area, he refused.
He has a previous conviction for failing to comply with the direction of gardaí.
Ms Aine McCarthy said her client had been drinking in a pub with friends and was on his own waiting for a taxi when he became intimidated by a crowd of people nearby.
That was why he didn’t obey the gardaí, she said and added that he hadn’t been comforted by the presence of the Garda car in the area because it may not have stayed around.
“I’m not prepared to have Mr Fitzsimons or anybody refuse to obey the directions given by An Garda Síochána,” said the judge who asked what pub he had been drinking in.
When Mr Fitzsimons replied that he had been in Danny Byrne’s, the judge said he would “remember that” when Danny Byrne’s come to renew their licence.
The judge imposed a €300 fine for refusal to comply with the direction of gardaí and a €250 fine for public intoxication.
He told Inspector Jarlath Folan to “take a note that Danny Byrne’s are selling alcohol to people who are seriously drunk,” and to remind him when the renewal application is dealt with.
