A man who refused to answer a Judge or Gardai and acted like a statue when arrested has been jailed for two months.
Andrew Phillips appeared before Letterkenny District Court in Co Donegal for trespassing.
Gardai had been called to the home of John Murray of Fawans, Termon, on December 1st where a male had been trespassing.
Garda O’Connell had spoken to the defendant. “But he would not speak to me. He would not interact with the Gardai or me.”
He was taken to Milford Garda Station where he remained silent for the entire day and had been remanded in custody.
“We had to forcibly remove him. He didn’t speak, he just stood there like a statue,” said the Garda.
Mr Murray had been “frightened’ on behalf of his family. “John Murray did not know this man or could not account for him.”
Asked if it was fair to say that the defendant was homeless, Garda witness replied yes.
Giving his own evidence, Mr Murray told the court when he had first observed the defendant on his property, he, Phillips, had “eyeballed” him without speaking.
“I asked him, can I help you but he said nothing. He had then walked away.”
Mr Murray said he had been concerned as he had three young girls and he did not want anybody around the area in those circumstances. “I was nervous.”
Cross-examined by Patsy Gallagher, defending solicitor, the witness said the defendant was about twenty yards from his home. “Did he try to enter your home?,” asked Mr Gallagher.
“He was on my property,” Mr Murray responded. “My wife and children were in the house.”
Asked about the defendant’s demeanor to him, Mr Murray said: “He just walked up to me and eyeballed me. He had a completely blank expression. He stood there with his arms down by his side.”
Witness told Inspector Michael Harrison that his children were aged two, four and six.
Asked by his own solicitor if he wanted to say anything to the court, Phillips made no reply,
Judge Paul Kelly said Mr Murray was a reasonable man who had been afraid on behalf of his children when “this stranger appears and acts in a peculiar manner.”
Inspector Harrison disclosed that the defendant had a number of previous convictions including offenses in Tullamore, County Offaly, and in the U.K.
Mr. Gallagher stated that his client was of no fixed abode and appeared to travel around the country.
“He interacts with the chosen few,” he indicated.
Judge Kelly asked the defendant would he agree to be placed in a unit attached to the St Vincent de Paul but, again, Phillips did not respond.
Imposing sentence, Judge Kelly said: “He can’t be wandering around the countryside causing people to be very naturally afraid.”
He had no option but to sentence him to two months imprisonment backdated to when he had first been taken into custody.