A man ‘exploded’ at staff in a Letterkenny bank when told they could not permit him to withdraw money from his account to attend his mother’s cremation.
Niall Cosgrove was homeless at the time and unable to renew an EBS debit card, which has expired.
Cosgrove, a 56-year-old with an address at Mount Hall Cottage, Crossroads, Killygordon, appeared before Letterkenny District Court on a public order charge arising out of the incident at EBS, Pearse Road, Letterkenny on May 30, 2023.
Gardai received a call at 12.20pm from BS staff stating that Cosgrove was on the premises ‘being aggressive and abusive’.
Cosgrove refused to leave premises and when gardai arrived he began shouting that he wanted his ‘fucking debit card’.
Cosgrove was conveyed to Letterkenny Garda Station and subsequently charged.
Solicitor Mr Frank Dorrian said his client was ‘effectively homeless’ at the time of the incident. The level of his anger rose as he was attempting to withdraw money to enable him to attend his mother’s cremation, the solicitor said.
“He had money in his account, but his debit card had expired in the February and he couldn’t renew it as he couldn’t provide proof of address as he was effectively homeless,” Mr Dorrian said.
“He wanted to withdraw money to attend the cremation and he exploded in terms of exasperation and despair.”
The court heard that Cosgrove was evicted from his residence in Dublin during the Covid-19 pandemic and was living out of his car for a period.
Mr Dorrian told the court that while his client did manage to obtain a new debit card, he was unable to attend the cremation. Cosgrove made ‘hundreds of phone calls’ in an attempt to obtain a card, Mr Dorrian said.
“That could be any of us under those very strained circumstances,” he added. “He doesn’t have a history of a lack of control. His ability to process some information results in exasperation at times.
“He didn’t manage to attend the cremation and that is a blemish on his memory.”
Judge Cunningham noted that Cosgrove has no previous convictions and said she was noting the ‘special circumstances’ outlined in mitigation by Mr Dorrian.
“I also note the efforts that he made to access the money in his account, but that doesn’t condone the manner in which he spoke to staff or gardai,” Judge Cunningham said.
Judge Cunningham said that if Cosgrove made a €150 contribution to Donegal Hospice by July 8 he would avoid a conviction. After a short time, Cosgrove returned to court with a receipt confirming the payment.