This article is from page 14 of the 2011-05-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
A YOUNG Ennis man facing the activation of a prison sentence reacted to “cheap remarks” about the colour of his skin during a public order incident, a court has heard.
Derek Matha (19), with an address at Gort na hAbhna, Ennis, appeared before Ennis District Court on Friday. He was in court to face the potential activation of a suspended sentence handed down at Ennis District Court in February.
He was brought back before the court following his involvement in separate public order offences in Cork city in April.
Solicitor for Mr Matha, Daragh Hassett, told the court that a fight had broken out between his client and a group of men.
He said his client, who is originally from South Africa, had been referred to by the colour of his skin and had been called “the N-word a couple of times”.
Mr Hassett said that every time his client goes out he is subjected to racial abuse.
He said that Mr Matha, who has previous convictions for public offences, had been living in Ennis for a number of years and had never experienced problems with racism while attending school.
He said that his client had fully cooperated with Gardaí. He added that Mr Matha knows he should have walked away after he heard the “cheap remarks”. “He knows this is the end of the line”, he added.
Judge Joseph Mangan questioned if alcohol had been a factor in any of the incidents the accused had been involved in.
“Would it be the colour of his drink, rather than the colour of his skin that’s the problem?” he added.
Mr Hassett acknowledged that his client had been drinking in Cork on the night in question. Judge Mangan put the matter back until May 27 for further consideration. A 60-YEAR-OLD man has appeared at Ennis District Court accused of having drugs for sale or supply. John Joyce (60), of Watery Road, Ennis, appeared in court on Friday on charges relating to the possession of quantities of cannabis and amphetamine, with a combined value of € 988.22. Gardaí discovered the drugs during a search of a house at 1 Watery Road, Ennis on December 15, 2010. The court heard that Gardai also found € 3,000 during the search of the premises. In making an application for free legal aid, Mr Joyce was questioned by Insp Gallagher. After being asked how he had travelled to court that morning, Mr Joyce said he had driven there in his van. He said he had bought the van in 2008 but added that he couldn’t recall how much the van had cost.
Insp Gallagher said that by his own conservative estimate, the van was valued at around € 30,000.
Solicitor for the accused, Tara God frey, said the vehicle had not been listed as an asset by Mr Joyce as it was needed for family use.
She said her client had no other savings and assets.
Of the € 3,000 found by Gardaí, Mr Joyce said that € 2,000 belonged to him, while € 1,000 belonged to his wife.
He said he had got the money from selling “palettes in Limerick” and from the sale of his son’s pony. Mr Joyce told the court that both he and his wife had been saving the money for Christmas.
Judge Joseph Mangan refused the application for free legal aid, noting that Mr Joyce had not listed his van as an asset in the application.
He accepted jurisdiction and adjourned the matter until June 10 for either a plea or a date for hearing.