Judge remarks that man who came before him in Kildare court was shaking

A man aged in his early 50s and from west Kildare appeared before Naas District court after being found lying in a parking space holding two bottles of vodka.

The man was prosecuted for breaching the Public Order Act and was detained for being intoxicated on December 2 at Eyre Court, Newbridge.

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The court heard that the man, who has a son and daughter, could neither read nor write and had previously been a heroin addict. The court was also told he had previous convictions for breaches of the Public Order Act.

Solicitor Seamus Boyle said the man previously lived with an uncle who has passed away and the man had looked after the older relative.

“You are shaking, this is a very tragic case," commented Judge Desmond Zaidan on hearing that the man had diabetes and is on medication for this.

“You’re going to kill yourself,” he told the defendant, pointing out that if the defendant had died in garda custody because of a coma brought on by his diabetes there may  have been an investigation into how  the garda dealt with the matter even though the garda was blameless.

Referring to the defendant’s ailments the judge said: “Don’t give me any more bad news; there is nothing I can do that he has not already done to himself.”

He applied the Probation Act, telling the defendant “look after yourself.”