This article is from page 3 of the 2006-03-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
A HOMELESS “chronic alcoholic” who threatened staff at Ennis General Hospital with an imitation gun has been jailed for two years.
Oliver Boylan (38), a native of Dublin who has lived in Ennis for the past few years, pleaded guilty to the offence, on May 3, 2004. Boylan had spent the past six months in a shed on the Bishop of Killaloe, Dr Willie Walsh’s premises.
Ennis Circuit Court heard allegations that the accused – a separated father-oftwo – had suffered abuse in an orphanage some years ago in Dublin and currently had an application before the Residential Redress Board.
He had one previous conviction, after he went to a former partner’s home with a hoax bomb and threatened to blow up the home, in Dundalk in 2000, for which he received a suspended sentence.
Detective Garda Kevin Kennedy said Boylan pointed an imitation gun at a doctor and nursing staff at the accident and emergency unit at the hospital and threatened them. He demanded a brain scan and looked for his girlfriend. On seeing that a doctor was going to ring gardaí, Boylan threatened to shoot him, if he failed to put the phone down.
He had been admitted to hospital 10 minutes earlier and was heavily intoxicated. Two security guards at the hospital wrestled him to the ground. Det Gda Kennedy said he himself knew, after taking possession of the implement, that it was not a real firearm. This was confirmed after analysis in Dublin.
Defending barrister, Michael Fitzgibbon said this incident was “a disgraceful escapade”, but there was no intent to intimidate anyone. Boylan wanted to see his girlfriend “at any cost.”
Boylan himself told the court the incident was all down to drink and that he needed treatment in his head. He said he accepted the best place for him was in prison, if he could get suitable treatment. Judge Carroll Moran said he has a considerable amount of sympathy for Boylan, who he said, clearly needed help.
“Violence at A & Es in hospitals is becoming a prevalent problem everywhere and doctors, nurses, porters and staff are entitled to protection,” he said, adding he must take into account the man needs help.
Judge Moran said if he had been convicted by a jury he would be facing a sentence up to six years. Boylan, he said, was entitled to a substantial decrease because of the plea and because of his condition.
He imposed a two-year sentence and ordered that Boylan receive treatment for his alcohol problem while in jail.