Suspended sentence for man convicted of Kilkenny Garda Station damage
Destroying a mattress in a Kilkenny Garda Station cell resulted in a criminal damage conviction.
Brian Thackaberry, Pound Road, Dunlavin, Wicklow, pleaded guilty to the charge.
Sergeant Morgan O’Connor said gardaí attended St Luke’s Hospital where Mr Thackaberry was highly intoxicated and refused to wear a mask. He was arrested and taken to the garda station where he ripped up a mattress in a cell.
The mattress was valued at €500 and was unsuitable for use afterwards.
There were 20 previous convictions recorded against Mr Thackaberry.
Solicitor Chris Hogan said his client had asked him to apologise to the gardaí and hospital for his behaviour.
Mr Thackaberry was attending a belated work Christmas party and ‘there was a huge amount of drinking going on’. He is usually a beer drinker and he was drinking shots on this occasion.
Mr Thackaberry had a growth on his hand, and on this night he decided to attend hospital with it.
Mr Hogan said his client couldn’t remember the incidents in the hospital or garda station.
His client still has the growth on his hand and now he can’t work.
Judge Geraldine Carthy described the incident as ‘unsavoury’ and said the defendant did not need her to tell him how challenged front line workers are.
She said she hoped to keep Mr Thackaberry on the ‘straight and narrow’ by imposing a suspended prison sentence.
She imposed a three month prison term to be suspended for three months.