A notorious criminal threatened to urinate in Letterkenny Garda station and then set off the fire alarms after Gardai refused to give him back his mobile phone.
Carlos Lawrence appeared at Letterkenny District Court today charged with a series of offences.
The 27-year-old is currently serving a seven-year sentence for a vicious aggravated burglary during which he and his partner terrorised a man and stole €16,000 form him.
Lawrence and Catherine Dempsey broke into the home of Alan Greene at Wainsfort Manor Grove on December 13th last and threatened him with a hammer.
The pair forced him to take his bank card to the local ATM machine and take out €1,200.
The following day, Dempsey accompanied Mr Grene to his local bank and ordered him to withdraw €15,000.
Lawrence was jailed for seven years and Dempsey was jailed for five years.
Judge Melanie Greally said “He (Lawrence) alone made the threats, he alone used the hammer and he was responsible for the violence,” she added, noting that the offence was “committed against a man in his own home”.
The Dubliner, who has 46 convictions, pleaded guilty to all the charges when he appeared at Letterkenny District Court.
Lawrence, of Rosary Road, Maryland, Dublin, was stopped by Gardai at Rosgier, Lifford, Co Donegal on November 12th, 20?? while driving a red Volkswagen Golf.
The car was making a loud noise from its exhaust and he also gave a false name of Jason Prennderville to Gardai.
When examined by Gardai, they discovered that Lawrence had no insurance on the vehicle.
The following day, Lawrence called to Letterkenny Garda station looking for his mobile phone which had been confiscated by Gardai.
When he was told by Gardai that they would be withholding the phone, Lawrence became angry and told Gardai that he would urinate in the public office of the Garda Station at Newline Road.
He declined to leave the Garda station and then set off the fire alarms by pressing the emergency button.
“The entire station was disturbed,” said Garda Inspector Michael Harrison.
Solicitor for the accused, Mr Patsy Gallagher said his client is a father-of-two who fully accepts his past and is serving a seven-year jail sentence for the aggravated burglary.
He said he had started a business as a steel fabricator and had men working for him but an issue arose during which he lost a lot of money.
Judge Paul Kelly jailed Lawrence for one month for the public order offence at the Garda station and fined him €250 for not having a driving license.