This article is from page 17 of the 2013-10-15 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
PRISON sentences have been handed down to two men found driving around Ennis earlier this year with weapons including a claw hammer and a golf club.
Gardaí discovered the items along with a shovel handle and mop handle with a metal head after they were thrown from a car in Clancy Park on May 1 (2013).
At Ennis District Court on Thursday, Darren Maughan (21) and Kildare man Dermot O’Brien (25) pleaded guilty to possession of implements, contrary to the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act.
Passing sentence, Judge Patrick Durcan said too often in the past 18 months he has dealt with cases where people believe they can “go around the county in a marauding fashion.”
“There is no room in our society for people who go around in mechanically propelled vehicles with implements of potential death and destruction”, he added.
Garda Stephen Dunne of Ennis Garda Station told the court that he observed a car driving in suspicious manner in the Cloughleigh area of Ennis on May 1.
He said gardaí followed the car to Clancy Park where they observed a claw hammer, mop handle, shovel handle and golf club being thrown from the vehicle.
The accused were arrested. The court heard Mr Maughan, with an address at Stonecourt, Drumbiggle, Ennis has 45 previous convictions, mainly arising from alcohol related incidents.
Defence solicitor William Cahir said Mr O’Brien is not from Ennis. “It would be unusual for him to be involved in something like this,” he added.
Mr Cahir told the court the men had not given a reason for having the weapons. “My clients fully accept these are items they should not have had”, he added.
Judge Durcan said the fact that no explanation had been offered was “very much against the defendants”.
He sentenced Mr Maughan to a total of seven months in prison and disqualified him from holding a driver’s license for a year.
Mr O’Brien, with an address at Brayton Park, Kilcock, Kildare and now living Ennis, received a suspended three-month sentence. He was also ordered to complete 100 hours of community service in lieu of another three-month sentence.
The father of two was disqualified from holding a driver’s license for a year. The disqualification was postponed until January 1, 2014.