Judge tells man to get help with alcohol addiction

A NEW Ross man was advised by Judge Miriam Walsh to go and get help with his alcohol addiction after he appeared before the court on a string of charges, most of which were connected to his drinking.

Jim Connors (36) of 55 Assumption Terrace, New Ross, was brought before the judge in custody and faced a litany of charges including several counts of public intoxication, drink driving, theft of alcohol and a number of motoring offences. Connors pleaded guilty to all of the charges before the court.

The charges began with an incident at Barrack Lane, New Ross, on April 23 of last year, which saw him charged with driving without a licence, failing to display ‘L’ plates and driving unaccompanied. For the latter charge he was fined €150 while the other two were taken into consideration.

He was also fined €150 for parking on double yellow lines at South Street on June 3 of last year.

Four counts of public intoxication followed throughout 2017, one of which saw gardaí find Connors asleep on the green at Rosbercon on October 11. On two of these charges, he was fined €50 while the other two were taken into consideration. The drink driving charge dated from an incident at Schoolhouse Road, Rosbercon, on August 20 of last year. Connors was arrested on suspicion of drink driving and subsequently gave a reading of 33/100 breath, for which Judge Walsh handed him a six-month driving ban and a €200 fine. Arising from the same incident, Connors was fined €150 for driving without a licence and €100 for driving without ‘L’ plates.

Connors faced two charges of theft of alcohol from June of this year. On June 20, he stole a bottle of Margo Scotch Whiskey valued at €18.49 from Lidl in New Ross, while on June 25 he put a bottle of Jameson valued at €25 down his trousers and attempted to walk out of Tesco New Ross without paying. Gardaí told the court that the goods were recovered and fit for resale.

‘Fit for resale?’ the Judge questioned, having heard the defendant had one bottle down his trousers. ‘ That’d be some purchase!’

In relation to the theft charges, having heard all the circumstances and owing to the fact the property was recovered, Judge Walsh agreed to strike the matters out.

Before the fines were imposed, solicitor Lana Doherty had informed the court that her client was a father of two young children and that his trouble with alcohol had began when he broke his hip a couple of years back.

She said all charges were connected with his addiction issue and that he intended to address this with the help of his wife who was present in court. She said that Connors was trying to get into treatment and had had a heavy detox while in custody in Cloverhill. ‘What about these aspirations for treatment?’ Judge Walsh asked. ‘Pigs might fly as well you know!’

Ms Doherty then told the Judge that Connors was serious about seeking help. Having passed Judgement, Judge Walsh told Connors that he should go and seek help for his addiction issues. ‘I will Judge, straight away,’ he replied.