A man who tried to interfere with Gardai during the arrest of another man made it one hundred convictions for himself when he was taken into custody by Gardai.
Michael Callaghan, aged 31, of Clardrumbarron, Donegal Town was arrested by gardai on February 7, last year, at Ramelton Road, Letterkenny.
The court heard that on the night in question the defendant and two other males were seen loitering in the area on the town’s CCTV camera network. Gardai also saw that one of the men with the defendant was carrying a knife.
A short time later gardai were arresting a young person in the area and Callaghan attempted to intervene. He became abusive to gardai and was said to be highly intoxicated.
He also attempted to disturb them while they were making the arrest of the young person who was related to the defendant.
Judge Paul Kelly heard Callaghan has 99 previous convictions, the most recent for public order dating back to April, 2017.
The defendant’s solicitor, Rory O’Brien said: “He now reaches the 100 mark today as a result of this conviction and is obviously no stranger to the court.”
He continued: “This offence was not the worst type but a family member was the juvenile being arrested and my client was also in the company of other family members. They had been drinking that day and were visiting family members in Letterkenny, having come from Donegal Town.”
“He accepts that he acted completely incorrectly,” added the solicitor.
Mr O’Brien said his client is a single man who has recently entered into a relationship with a partner who is a “very grounding influence”.
He also told the court that Callaghan has recently spent six months in Maghaberry Prison in Northern Ireland having been arrested for an offence which is currently going through the courts in that jurisdiction.
Judge Kelly noted that the defendant should not have interfered with gardai and proceeded to fine him €150.