This article is from page 14 of the 2008-08-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
A DRUMBIGGLE man, who took a Swipe at a Garda patrol car with an axe, has a history of mental difficul- ties a judge was told.
34-year-old Sean Sullivan of 16 Waterpark Heights, Drumbiggle, pleaded guilty to an offence under the Firearms Act when he appeared before Ennis District Court yester- day.
The court heard evidence that gardai were called to Waterpark on May 2, 2007, where they found Sulli- van in conversation with his mother.
A Garda witness told the court that as they arrived on the scene “Sul- livan had his back to us. When he turned around he was holding an axe and when he spotted us, he rushed at the patrol car and swung the axe.
Thankfully, no one was hurt.”
Sullivan’s solicitor, Tara Godfrey produced letters from a consultant psychiatrist and told the court that her client had a history of depression and manic episodes.
He had been diagnosed with At- tention Deficit Disorder and has been suffering the negative effects of being cared for in institutions as PO NEen
“He goes through periods where he is stabilised and is quite able to cope. We would ask the court to ex- tend bail conditions but if a sentence is being imposed we would ask that it not be too long a sentence, as it 1s virtually impossible for him to re- ceive proper treatment for his prob- lems 1n prison.”
Judge Leo Malone imposed a two month jail sentence.