‘No shrinking violets at Ridley’s says judge

Ridley’s niteclub in Dundalk is not a place for shrinking violets, Judge Flann Brennan said at the district court last week, though he did admit never having been there.

The judge made the remarks after he heard how 38-year-old Dwayne Russell, who admitted being drunk and abusive at the Park Street venue on June 26, was unable to do community service because he suffers from anxiety and finds it hard to leave the family home at Whitechapel Road, Blanchardstown. Judge Brennan expressed surprise that Russell told the probation officer that he ‘feels constantly under observation and rarely leaves the family home to go into the community’, even though the offence before the court related to Ridley’s.

He said: ‘He pleaded guilty to offences at Ridley’s. I have never been there myself, but I’d say it’s not a place for shrinking violets, let alone people suffering from depression or panic disorders, particularly in relation to being in public.

‘In the words of the great Tony Soprano: ‘illuminate me’. How can he (Russell) possibly go to Ridley’s and not be able to do some community service?’

Solicitor Eleanor Kelly said her client was ‘more than willing’, ‘ but the probation service won’t allow him’. The judge replied: ‘ This just doesn’t make sense to me’.

A probation officer said Russell said he couldn’t attend the probation service in Blanchardstown because of ‘ feuding’ and ‘ he said he couldn’t go outside the area because he would have to get on a bus’.

Judge Brennan said he wanted Russell to be reassessed by the service because ‘ this seems to be just nonsense’ and adjourned the case to October 26 for a further report.