'It's like a soap' - Man, 20, didn't know who his father was until they met behind bars, court hears
A 20-year-old Co. Clare man didn’t know who his father was for almost two decades until the two met when they were both behind bars in the last 12 months.
That is according to solicitor for the man, Daragh Hassett, who described the circumstances of how the two men met “like something from a British soap”.
At Ennis District Court, Mr Hassett stated that his client’s father is well known to the courts and an alcoholic.
He said: “There was one occasion when my client was in custody and so was his father and that is how they met.”
Mr Hassett stated his client, before the court where he pleaded guilty to two public order charges, “would have seen his father over the years but wouldn’t have known he was his father but the connection was made in the last 12 months”.
He said: “It is like something from a British soap - they were trying to rekindle a relationship that never existed through both of them appearing in court at the same time and on various occasions both in custody.”
Mr Hassett stated that his client’s mother is also an addict and he said: “It is an awful cycle.
I see an awful lot of good in this man, but he needs to deal with his demons.
“He needs to stop drinking. He has huge anger - a lot of pent-up anger on issues that need to be addressed.”
The accused man was before the court for telling two gardaí in a drunken outburst that they were "dirty paedos" when he was trying to enter a homeless hostel, Laurel Lodge, in Ennis on January 27 last.
Sgt Aiden Lonergan told the court that the man told gardaí: "Ye see your dirty daughter, I’ll rape her. Ye think this is funny? Wait til you’re blasted with a AK-47."
The man told the court: “I apologise to the gardaí but I can’t remember what I said.”
Judge Patrick Durcan stated: “Your behaviour was terrible.”
Daragh Hassett said that his client is currently homeless and was brought up in a home "that was essentially a party house”.
He said: “There was heavy drinking, drug abuse. You could say what you wanted and do what you wanted and the gardaí were always the enemy and that was the house he grew up in.”
Mr Hassett stated that his client’s mother is volatile and "is a nice woman when she doesn’t have drink taken but not so nice when she does have drink".
He said that when his client “has drink taken, he can be messy and there is a thug in him and the gardaí were on the receiving end of it. On the night, he acted out very badly and said things he shouldn’t have said.”
Sgt Lonergan stated that the accused has five previous convictions for public order offences and the man said: “I was drunk for every one of those.”
Judge Durcan remanded the man on bail to appear in court for September 9 and ordered a pre-sentence probation report.
