A RAMELTON man has been told to bring €500 to court or face the prospect of going to prison.
Judge Raymond Finnegan warned Rory O’Hara to come up with the cash as compensation after he caused criminal damage at a house in Ramelton.
O’Hara (23) of Cul na Cille, Ramelton, was before Letterkenny District Court on charges arising out of an incident on January 8, 2021 at Bridge Street Ramelton.
Sergeant Jim Collins told the court that when Gardaí called to a report of a disturbance, O’Hara was shouting in a threatening manner.
O’Hara locked the door and blocked it using a wooden TV stand and couch. The defendant had to be pepper sprayed in order to get him to drop items he was threatening to use as ‘weapons’, Sgt Collins said.
O’Hara was charged with entering a building as a trespasser before committing a crime, primal damage. O’Hara was charged with being intoxicated in a public place and with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour.
He was also charged with criminal damage to a number of items, a window, a TV, DVD player, child’s bicycle and picture frame.
The court heard that O’Hara has previous convictions including for criminal damage and burglary.
The damage to the window amounted to a loss of €200 for the owner of the property.
Solicitor for O’Hara, Mr Patsy Gallagher, said his client has been on strict bail conditions since January, something which had ‘assisted him in moving forward’.
“He was there with an acquaintance but he has broken away from that group of people,” Mr Gallagher said. “I would suggest that he has been serving a sentence since January.”
Judge Finnegan said O’Hara ‘will have to pay back every cent’ and instructed him to come up with €500 compensation.
“If that is not in court he will be going to prison – and that’s only for a start,” Judge Finnegan said.
The matter was adjourned to January 10, 2022.