A DEFENDANT who asked for more time to decide whether or not to accept a community service order in lieu of a prison sentence was treating the legal system like a convenience store according to the judge.
Judge John King made the comments at Macroom District Court when hearing the case against Patrick Ring (59) of Peake of Coachford.
Giving evidence Sgt Trish O’Sullivan told the court that on June 1st 2023 an ISPCA inspector attempted to gain access to Mr Ring’s property, The Dew Drop Inn, Peake near Coachford, to carry out an animal welfare inspection following an anonymous report.
When she arrived and explained the purpose of her visit Mr Ring became irate the court was told and began to verbally abuse the inspector.
According to Sgt O’Sullivan, Mr Ring was aggressive in his behaviour and warned the inspector not to attempt to enter an adjacent field. He then made moves towards her van which caused her further concern.
As she was unable to carry out the inspection, she then called gardaí for assistance.
Sgt O’Sullivan added that the ISPCA inspector was on her own and felt intimidated by Mr Ring’s behaviour.
The court was told that Mr Ring has 40 previous convictions for a variety of offences including motoring, drugs, criminal damage and public order.
Defence solicitor Jack Purcell said that on the day in question his client did not appreciate that the ISPCA inspector had the power to enter his property and carry out an inspection.
He said that he moved towards the van as a ‘tactic to stall the inspection’. He added: ‘It got out of hand very quickly.’
Mr Purcell told the court that his client currently did not have an income because the pub had recently been shut down by gardaí due to a licensing issue.
Judge King asked if Mr Ring would be willing to do community service instead of a custodial sentence to which he said that he could not commit because of transport issues.
Mr Ring attempted to leave the court and had to be called back by the judge who had not finished dealing with the issue.
The judge said: ‘I feel like we are a Tesco Express or something. It seems this is justice at your convenience.’
Judge King agreed to Mr Purcell’s request to defer sentencing until February 7th to give Mr Ring time to ‘get his affairs in order’.
