Man, 20, who threw rock at garda car is warned by judge not to drive

A YOUNG Collooney man who was jailed for five months for throwing a rock at a garda van had his case put back to November for monitoring and for further medical assessment at the circuit court.

Vincent Harte, 20, from Largan, Collooney, pleaded guilty to that charge of causing criminal damage at Knox Park, Ballisodare, on May 6.

The defendant had a charge of causing criminal damage by ripping out a Covid sign in Sligo Courthouse on the same date taken into consideration at a previous sitting.

The defendant appealed the sentence to Tuesday’s circuit court before Judge Francis Comerford, where his jail sentence was not affirmed. Defence solicitor Mark Mullaney told the court that his client had earlier been convicted of road traffic and drugs offences and banned from driving for four years on May 6.

The solicitor said that shortly afterwards, Harte took umbrage and caused damage to a sign in the Courthouse and later threw a rock at a garda van that was sent out to interview him about the criminal damage caused to the Courthouse that day. Mr Mullaney said it was an “outrageous attack” on the garda van and the gardaí only realised then that this was the defendant whom they were seeking when the rock hit the window.

The solicitor said the defendant had numerous previous convictions from the May 6 district court hearing.

The defendant was an intelligent man who had some sort of fixation with driving and did so without insurance and had a lot of convictions in a short time. Judge Kevin Kilrane had been good to him and left him with light at the end of the tunnel but his behaviour on the day was such that he took great exception to that earlier sentence. Mr Mullaney said the defendant may have had an idea that he had been banned from driving for 16 months instead of the four concurrent sentences that he received.

But that did not excuse his behaviour.

Mr Mullaney asked Judge Francis Comerford for the case to be put back so that the defendant could be assessed for mental health issues to be able to tell what the issues were. Mr Mullaney said the defendant knew that he was off the road and said that Judge Kilrane had ordered him to get rid of a family vehicle at his home and he was not even to sit in the front seat of a car for two years. Judge Comerford put the case back to November, saying the defendant could not drive a vehicle until his driving ban was lifted. He warned the defendant that any re-offending and mitigation would be “non-existent”.

The case was adjourned to November 17.