Drunken man pays €400 after smashing windscreen of Tullamore taxi

[watty]

Judge adds €200 to fine 'because [the taxi driver] probably had to take a day off work to get the window fixed.'

Drunken man pays €400 after smashing windscreen of Tullamore taxi (offaly Express)

A DRUNKEN man who called gardai “pigs” and “c...s” before smashing the window of a taxi has paid €400 in compensation, Tullamore District Court heard yesterday (Wednesday, February 10).  The man broke the taxi window when he was refused service because he had no money, Tullamore District Court was told the previous week.  David Fenton, 9 Healy Street, Tullamore, was ordered to pay €400 as a result of the incident on March 8, 2020, including €200 for a broken windscreen.  His solicitor, Donal Farrelly, told Judge Staines the money for the broken windscreen had been handed over and Mr Fenton regretted the incident.  Judge Staines applied the Probation Act.

At the previous week's sitting of the court, Sergeant James O'Sullivan outlined how gardai received a call in relation to the 36-year-old man being highly intoxicated at Healy Street.  He was a danger to himself and when the gardai arrived he started shouting and calling them names in the presence of other members of the public.  Sergeant O'Sullivan said he was arrested for his own safety and was detained in the Garda Station, from where he was released after sobering up to some degree.

At 10.40pm he abused the driver of a taxi who had refused him entry because he had no money and he punched the windscreen, breaking it and causing €200 worth of damage.  Judge Catherine Staines was told the accused had 16 previous convictions for public order offences, including convictions in Mullingar and Longford District Courts.

Defending solicitor Mr Farrelly said his client had a partner and three-month-old child who had spent three months in the Cuan Mhuire treatment centre since the incident.  An electrician who is currently in employment, he was no longer drinking.  Asked by Judge Staines if his client had €200 to pay for the damage to the taxi, Mr Farrelly said he did not because he was not aware he'd have to pay it on the day.  Judge Staines said Mr Fenton could not be surprised because he broke the windscreen a year earlier.  Speaking on the morning of the court, she said the defendant was to have the money in court by 2pm.  Mr Fenton said he would have to get the money from the Credit Union in Mullingar and he was not currently driving. 

Judge Staines then adjourned the matter to this week's court sitting (Wednesday, February 10) and said Mr Fenton would have to pay €400.  In addition to the broken windscreen, she said she was sure it was very inconvenient for the taxi driver because he probably had to take a day off work to get the window fixed.  Mr Fenton pleaded guilty to five offences, public drunkenness and breaches of the peace at both Healy Street and William Street, and damaging the vehicle of Albert Oleszczuk at William Street.

[vandriver]

Probably his best day since the pandemic started.

[Rat Catcher]

Immigrant?

[silverbullet]

Electrician  - yes, bright spark  - No.

Defending solicitor Mr Farrelly said his client had a partner and three-month-old child who had spent three months in the Cuan Mhuire treatment centre since the incident.  An electrician who is currently in employment, he was no longer drinking.  Asked by Judge Staines if his client had €200 to pay for the damage to the taxi, Mr Farrelly said he did not because he was not aware he'd have to pay it on the day.  Judge Staines said Mr Fenton could not be surprised because he broke the windscreen a year earlier.  Speaking on the morning of the court, she said the defendant was to have the money in court by 2pm.  Mr Fenton said he would have to get the money from the Credit Union in Mullingar and he was not currently driving.

[silverbullet]

Obviously the windscreen is covered by insurance,  so the 200 blips - if he actually ever gets it is compo.

[Rat Catcher]

He packs a powerful punch to be fair. He should be over in Marbella training with rasher...

[silverbullet]

Could be a family trait?

A Circuit Court judge has refused to suspend the balance of a prisoner’s sentence because there is nowhere for him to go to get the help he needs.

“If I let him out now, what’s to become of him?” asked Judge Anthony Kennedy at Mullingar Circuit Court. “I don’t know,” was the response of Geraldine Fenton, mother of 19 year old Derek, 36 Lynn Heights, Mullingar. 

Mr Fenton had pleaded guilty in the District Court to assaulting Garda Michael Daniels of Mullingar Garda Station who was accompanying him to hospital on doctor’s instructions. He head-butted the Garda in the A&E unit and was sentenced to 11 months imprisonment on September 18.

The court heard that Mr Fenton had psychological, learning, and speech problems as well as a conduct disorder.  Mrs Fenton said her son could not come back and live with her because his needs were too great. “He needs an awful lot of help. He needs to be back in the care of psychologists.”


 
She said that her son, the youngest of six boys, had left school very early and had little education. Derek, who was diagnosed with ADHD at 11, has no friends because “he’s very anti-social”. Mrs Fenton said her son was finding his detention difficult. “He’s very sad. He knows he’s done wrong.”

She accepted that as yet her son hasn’t received the “serious interventions” which he needs. She hoped that he will be able to engage with the adult psychological services, now that he is too old to be cared for by child services.

Mr Fenton was convicted on September 19 of threatening behaviour, assault, criminal damage, and possession of an article. His mother said it was his first serious offence but couldn’t say if his detention was benefitting him.

“I want to organise help for him, but the help isn’t there,” she said.

Judge Kennedy commented that Mr Fenton had been assessed by numerous experts but “there has been no structured life devised for him to live, to work, to attend school or do anything”.

Mr Fenton’s barrister said that a report from November 2007 showed that his client had a difficulty with alcohol abuse which led to aggression. If the sentence was reduced, there would be an opportunity for systems to be put in place and for the probation and welfare services to engage with Mr Fenton.

The judge said he could not let Mr Fenton walk out the door without a package for him to participate in. He directed that the Probation Service engage with the teenager and that a suitable facility be found to accommodate him, if available.