A young Waterford man was required to make a charity donation in order to avoid a public order charge in court last week.
Leo Stone, with an address at Priory Lawn, Ballybeg, Waterford, pleaded guilty to being intoxicated in public contrary to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994, at a pub in the Lisduggan area of Waterford city on Sunday 19 October.
At a sitting of Waterford District Court last week, the court heard that Gardaí were called to the pub after they received a report of a “drunk and abusive” male, which was alleged to be Mr.Stone. Gardaí spoke to the manager of the pub after the accused refused to leave the premises, and they then encountered him being “unsteady on his feet” with a “strong smell of alcohol” coming from him.
Acting for the defendant, solicitor Hilary Delahunty said that Mr Stone “apologises to everyone” for the incident, and mentioned that he “simply drank too much that night.” He highlighted to the court that his client has no problem with alcohol or drugs, no underlying mental health issues and has no previous convictions.
Mr Delahunty asked Judge Miriam Walsh to consider the “common cause” for a first time public order offence of making a donation to the court poor box. Judge Walsh originally invited Mr Stone to make a €100 donation to St Vincent De Paul, but altered this to €90 after he said that he only had that amount of money with him in court.
After stating that “this is not an auction” and “all donations are gratefully received” she invited him to make the donation. The case was later struck out after the donation receipt was presented to Judge Walsh.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme
