Man appeals criminal damage conviction and jail term yet tells Circuit Court it has no authority to deal with his case
A man who was given a four month jail sentence for damaging the wing mirror of a car at a petrol station appealed the conviction at Sligo Circuit Court.
The court was told the defendant, Gerard Stokes of Cloona, Enniscrone had already served two months of the sentence imposed at the District Court and was released from prison after lodging his appeal.
Stokes, who represented himself, made some strident and at times colourful submissions during his appeal hearing including one where he claimed Judge Cormac Quinn had no authority to impose a sentence on him.
Stokes was convicted at the District Court by Judge Kevin Kilrane of damaging the car’s wing mirror to the value of € 109.43 at Centra, Main Street, Enniscrone on March 18th 2015.
He was jailed for four months and served between May 19th and July 19th in Castlerea Prison.
At the outset of the appeal, State Solicitor Mr Hugh Sheridan, said two civilian witnesses, Emma Kavanagh and her partner, Derek O’Hara whose car it was were not in court due to a medical appointment and Judge Quinn said he was reluctant in the circumstances to issue a bench warrant.
Mr Sheridan suggested the case could be adjourned to January 17th in the circumstances and Judge Quinn spoke of putting the case back for a day. Stokes then asked the court “what case?” Standing at the front of the courtroom and becoming louder and more animated as he addressed the Judge, he said he had been manhandled from the “theatrical next door” ( District Court) and brought to prison for three months.
He told the Judge: “Your paperwork is not legal and you are not a judge,” he said. He also insisted that his name was Gerard and asked the Judge to stop calling him Mr Stokes.
He said he didn’t mean to be boisterous and stated on several occasions that he wanted to see a piece of paper with his name on it. None had been provided to him, he said. “You haven’t got a case,” he told the Judge. “You are not a Judge”- defendant. “Very good”- Judge. “Don’t ‘ very good’ me man” - defendant. He said he had spent two and a half months in jail when he didn’t have to and again claimed there was no case against him.
“Everything you do in here is lies, in the realm of conjecture. Show us the proof,” he told the Judge. The defendant also stated he was sick to death of being addressed as “Mr Stokes.” He banged the bench in front of him a number of times, was pointing at the Judge and was pacing over and back constantly. Handing in his birth certificate he had in a folder, the defendant said there was a comma after the name, Gerard. “Mr Stokes does not exist,” he said. Judge Quinn said he was not in a position to hear the case and was attempting to explain the reason when the defendant kept talking over him.
“Are you going to continue to interrupt?”Judge.
“I thought we were having a debate”- defendant. “It’s a very one side debate” - Judge. Judge Quinn told Stokes that he ( defendant) wasn’t progressing his appeal in the manner he should. The Judge said: “You are not behaving in a reasonable manner so, on that basis, I find that you are not prosecuting your appeal or that you are coming to court to represent yourself in a proper manner but to disrupt the court. You are not controlling yourself.”
The Judge added that the defendant had left him with no option but to affirm the conviction of the District Court.
Stokes attempted to hand in a number of documents but the Judge said he wasn’t reading any of these. He then asked the defendant if he wished to appeal the severity of the four month sentence and Stokes replied that he wanted to “appeal everything.”
Garda Helen Cusack told the court that at 4.30pm on March 18th 2015 Gardaí got a call from Emma Kavanagh stating that Stokes had lashed out and had damaged the car at Centra. Her partner, Derek O’Hara was in the driver’s seat at the time.
The defendant had a previous conviction in July 2015 for engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour and another for the cultivation of cannabis for which he was fined € 200 in June 2015. Asked if he had any questions for the Garda, the defendant asked her what type of character he was. The Garda replied that he was an interesting character. “I believe he has a problem with the courts”- Garda.
“It’s not the courts but the paperwork” - defendant. The Judge said he was affirming the conviction of the District Court and asked Stokes if he had anything to say on sentencing.
Stokes said he had been forty odd years living in Dublin with no convictions until he came to Sligo but added that he had been “forced to take a stand.”
Judge Quinn imposed a three months sentence, backdated to May 19th and was deeming that this term had been served. “Thanks very much”- defendant. “And, I don’t accept you have any authority to impose a sentence on me,” he added. Judge Quinn: “You’ve had your day in court.” “I didn’t want a day in court. All I wanted to see was some paperwork” - defendant.