This article is from page 12 of the 2014-05-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
A LIMERICK man said he caused noise and disturbance in Ennis Courthouse yesterday because he only got potato wedges and chicken nuggets for lunch instead of a snack box.
Eddie O’Sullivan (25) was in custody awaiting sentence for stealing money and a bus pass from a disabled man in Ennis last August.
Shouting and banging could be heard from the cell area below the courtroom where Circuit Criminal Court sat on Monday.
When Mr O’Sullivan was called for arraignment a prison officer told Judge Carroll Moran that Mr O’Sullivan was naked. Judge Moran asked that the accused be brought into the courtroom to inform him how he intended to plead to the charge.
Mr O’Sullivan subsequently appeared wearing just boxer shorts and a pair of socks. “I know I’m not dressed appropriately, I’m sorry,” Mr O’Sullivan told Judge Moran.
Mr O’Sullivan, with addresses at Parkview Apartments, Limerick and, John Street Limerick, pleaded guilty to theft of wallet, cash, bank cards and bus pass from a 50-year-old partially paralysed man at Newbridge Road, Ennis, on August 31, 2013.
Mr O’Sullivan represented himself having dismissed his legal team last week. Judge Moran told Mr O’Sullivan his case would be dealt with later in the day.
“Put on some clothes Mr O’Sullivan, you’ll feel more comfortable,” he said.
Mr O’Sullivan reappeared in court some hours later wearing a white striped hoodie; black t-shirt, jeans and runners.
Garda Cyril Paige of Ennis Garda Station said the victim, who walks with the aid of a walking stick, had stopped to rest near the Club Bridge. He said Mr O’Sullivan approached the man, distracted him and stole the items.
A passing motorist witnessed the theft. Gardaí were alerted and Mr O’Sullivan was arrested at the nearby Ennis Swimming Pool.
The court heard the accused has 121 previous convictions. Prosecuting counsel Stephen Coughlan told the court Mr O’Sullivan was on bail when he committed the offence.
Mr O’Sullivan told Judge Moran he had suffered the loss of a number of family members including the recent death in Limerick of his aunt.
Asked by Judge Moran why he had made such a racket earlier in the day, Mr O’Sullivan said he had received wedges and three chicken nuggets while other people in custody got snack boxes. He pleaded with Judge Moran not to impose a consecutive prison sentence. Noting that the accused will spend the next 18 months in prison serving another sentence, Judge Moran adjourned the case to September for a probation and psychiatric report.