Driver halted bus to tell gardaí about passenger
A woman was so disruptive on a bus that the driver stopped just yards from the departure point and went to a Garda station to complain.
Louise Crowley, with an address at Coach Road in Dunmanway but stated in court she was homeless, faced a number of public order charges and a charge of assault relating to incidents over the summer.
One took place hours after she had left a courthouse. Bantry District Court heard that Crowley, aged 27, was on a bus on July 26 when the driver got off and entered the local Garda station at 6.30pm to say there was a female on board who was intoxicated and causing problems.
Sgt Brian Harte, prosecuting, told Judge James McNulty there were 30 people on the bus, including children.
She was shouting, roaring and swearing at gardaí and was arrested.
Meanwhile, on August 3 on Market St in Dunmanway, gardaí observed Crowley shouting across the street at no-one in particular. She was asked to move on but became argumentative, and a short while later caused a disturbance in a shop. She became abusive when gardaí approached and was arrested.
And on September 20 another woman was out walking her dog in Dunmanway and encountered Crowley. The two women were talking and Crowley went to pet the dog.
“For no apparent reason she then became abusive and slapped [the woman] across the face,” Sgt Harte said.
Crowley was later arrested, having created problems in licensed premises. The court heard that when arrested Crowley had no recollection of the incident involving the woman.
Crowley had 14 previous convictions. She told Judge McNulty she was currently living behind the toilets in Dunmanway and trying to get a house for herself and her dog. She admitted to suffering from stress and using alcohol as a “painkiller”.
The judge said he was sorry to hear of her circumstances but said her offending had “crossed the line”, particularly since she had been treated leniently on the July 26 court appearance when she had been placed under Probation Service supervision for the July 26 incident.
In relation to the bus incident, she was sentenced her to serve one month in prison, six months jail for the assault, and a two-month sentence for the August 3 public order offence, with all sentences to be served consecutively.
She was given a concurrent 60-day sentence for obstructing a garda — a total of nine months.
An independent surety was produced to allow Ms Crowley lodge an appeal.
