A judge has jailed a 21-year-old Shannon man for eight months for spitting all over a holding cell at a Garda station during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
At Ennis District Court, Judge Patrick Durcan imposed the eight month jail term on Lee Mulqueen for the criminal damage offence at a holding cell at Shannon Garda Station on May 25th last.
Public order
Sgt Aiden Lonergan told Judge Durcan that Mr Mulqueen of Ballycaseymore, Shannon was arrested for a public order offence when he was found in a drunken state at Finian Park in Shannon at around 10.10pm on May 25th.
Sgt Lonergan stated that back at the station, Mr Mulqueen constantly spat and when gardai left him in the holding cell, “he spat all over the cell and viewing hatch and around the whole cell contaminating it”. He said it cost €250 for the cell to be cleaned and to be put back into service.
Judge Durcan said when Mr Mulqueen committed the criminal damage offence, the country “was on its knees” as it recovered from the first Covid-19 outbreak.
“To spit repeatedly and to damage the public health of a Garda station in the way that he did is absolutely unforgivable," the judge said.
Sentence
Imposing an eight month jail term for the criminal damage, Judge Durcan said that there was very little damage done directly by Mr Mulqueen. However, he said: “anyone who comes before this court concerning a breach of the public health protocols that were in place since early March of this year and puts in fear people who have to deal with it must take a very severe penalty. This behaviour is totally unacceptable."
Let’s stop trying to put chocolate icing on blaggards like this man who said who what he said and did what he did.
Judge Durcan also imposed a two month jail term on Mr Mulqueen to run consecutive to the eight month jail term for telling two gardai in a drunken outburst that they were ‘dirty paedos’ when he was trying to enter a homeless hostel, Laurel Lodge in Ennis on January 27th last.
Sgt Lonergan told the court that Mr Mulqueen told Gardai ‘Ye see your dirty daughter? I’ll rape her. Ye think this is funny? Wait til you’re blasted with a AK-47’.
The Judges said there "is nothing decent about someone who said what he said and who did what he did."
He said: "Let’s stop trying to put chocolate icing on blaggards like this man who said who what he said and did what he did.”
