A Donegal man charged with public order offences has been told that addiction was the root of all of his problems.
Patrick Lindsay, aged 46, from Ballindrait, has been given a 12-month probation bond to address his issues.
Lindsay appeared before Letterkenny District Court this week in connection with the offences in 2020.
Lindsay was reported to the Gardai for being heavily intoxicated in the vicinity of Lower Main Street, Letterkenny on September 5, 2020. He was found unsteady in the middle of Oldtown Bridge and was arrested for his own and others’ safety. Although a fixed charge penalty notice (FCPN) was issued, it remained unpaid.
On September 19, 2020, Gardai were on mobile patrol when they received a report of an intoxicated male at St Eunan’s Terrace. Lindsay was located in an ‘extremely intoxicated’ state, was arrested and an FCPN went unpaid,
At 1.08am on September 25, 2020, Gardai observed Lindsay ’stumbling on his feet’. Again, he was arrested and an FCPN issued, but unpaid.
On February 14, 2020, Gardai were alerted at 11.57pm to an intoxicated male at Lower Main Street. On arrival at the scene, Gardai arrested Lindsay and conveyed him to Letterkenny Garda station.
The court heard that Lindsay has ’numerous convictions over the years’, all of which are for public order offenses. In 2021, he received a two-month suspended prison sentence when convicted of 11 public order offences.
Solicitor for Lindsay, Mr Donough Cleary, said his client was now residing at a B&B in Ballybofey as his own home is ‘essentially uninhabitable’ with no services currently operable.
The court heard that Lindsay has had a pacemaker fitted and has, in effect, ‘criminalised his own addiction’.
Mr Cleary said Lindsay is a good attender with the Probation Service and had no convictions other than for public order matters, but ‘needs an outside influence to get him to where he needs to be’.
Judge Cunningham said community service was not an option for Lindsay.
On one of the charges, Judge Cunningham placed Lindsay on a 12-month probation bond on condition that he engage with and follow any recommendations from the Probation Service, particularly in addressing his addiction issues, which she said were the root of all of his problems.