Leitrim men fined for “appalling” public order offences

Two young men from Mohill have been fined a total of €600 after pleading guilty to public order offences, at Carrick-on-Shannon District Court.
Kyle McGee (24) Hyde Terrace, Mohill pleaded guilty to charges of being drunk and a danger to himself and others and using threatening and abusive behaviour at Cappagh, Mohill on June 12 last year.

Brandon Knapper, (24) Hyde Terrace, Mohill pleaded guilty to identical charges at the same location and on the same date.
Sergeant John O’Reilly told the court that Kyle McGee was detected in a drunken state at the stated location.
He told gardai to “f*** off you pair of pricks”.
He was later arrested.
The court heard he had a previous conviction for assault causing harm and was given a community service order for that matter.

Defence solicitor John McGuinness said his client had made an early plea and was anxious to apologise to Garda Currid. He tried but was not able to contact the garda.
Judge Sandra Murphy noted that this incident happened back in June.
The defendant did not have a proper memory of the incident and had too much drink, the court heard.
The previous incident occurred in 2017 and was not dealt with until 2019.
The solicitor said the defendant had a partner and asked the court to be as lenient as possible.

Judge Murphy said the defendant had been given a tough lesson in 2019 and now he was back again at the age of 24.
The judge said she did not like the way he had spoken to the gardai.
When told the defendant had made efforts to contact the gardai, the judge said he hadn't made a very good effort.
Judge Murphy said the defendant would have to go and apologise to Garda Currid and the matter would be dealt with after lunch.

Sergeant O’Reilly told the court that the second defendant, Brandon Knapper, jumped out in front of a garda van and called them “c***s and wankers and refused to give his name and address”.
He also tried to lash out at the gardai.
His defence solicitor Colm Conway said the defendant would tender his apology to the garda today.

Judge Sandra Murphy said it sounded like he had not made much effort to contact the garda previously.
The solicitor said it was “entirely out of character” and there were “background issues” that led to this unacceptable behaviour.
The defendant was living in Mohill, in an environment that was not a happy environment, that led to this behaviour.
Since then, he had moved to Drumshanbo, and was in a much happier place than the background that led him to turn to alcohol.
He was a young man, had no previous convictions, and the incident was fuelled by excess alcohol and an unhappiness about his situation.

Judge Murphy said this defendant should also apologise to Garda Currid.
When both had apologised to the gardai, Judge Murphy fined both of them €300.
The judge said she did not like to see gardai being verbally abused and described the behaviour of both young men as “appalling.”
Related charges of being drunk and a danger to themselves and others were struck out.