A homeless grandmother who was released from custody at Skibbereen District Court on Tuesday was arrested in Bandon this afternoon and brought before Bantry District Court.
Margaret Buttimer, formerly of Bandon, but now of no fixed abode, had initially been remanded in custody for 28-days after she entered the Munster Arms Hotel in Bandon last December. There, she persistently requested that she be accommodated, and also tried to establish the number of Ukrainians staying there, and their cost to the State.
At Skibbereen Court, on Tuesday, Judge James McNulty dealt with two charges of failing to comply with directions given by the gardaí, and sentenced her to the amount of time already spent in custody.
On a third charge of failing to compy, Judge McNulty directed the accused to enter into a probation bond, which he described as being more of a support than a punishment. As part of the conditions of that bond she was not to return to the hotel housing refugees from the war in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, as part of the probation services support, the judge asked the probation officer to liaise with Cork County Council’s housing officer to secure Margaret Buttimer emergency accommodation.
‘It is important,’ the judge said, ‘that she has a warm, safe place to lay her head.’
At today's court, the judge instructed that the accused be held in custody to appear at Bandon District Court on Thursday February 2nd.
