A young man described in court as a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ character who attacked two Gardai during separate drunken rages has avoided going to jail.
Sean Molloy, 20, appeared before Letterkenny District Court in Co Donegal after a series of incidents.
The court was told the incidents all happened during a period when Molloy’s mother was battling cancer and both his parents were attending Galway for treatment and he was looking after his grandmother.
He then went out at weekends, went drinking with the wrong people and ended up in trouble.
Garda Sergeant Jim Collins outlined the charges against Sean Molloy of The Curragh in Lismonaghan, Letterkenny.
Molloy was on High Road during the incident when another man was being arrested.
As the man was being arrested, Sean Molloy was also shouting obscenities and kicked a Garda in the back before lashing out striking a patrol van.
On another occasion on February 6th, 2021, Gardai found Sean Molloy trying to get into a flat at Burnside Park in Letterkenny and he was drunk and aggressive forcing Gardai to use pepper-spray.
On October 10th, 2021, Molloy was one of two males fighting at Fortwell, Letterkenny. He was aggressive and had his top off trying to fight with Gardai and was again arrested.
During another serious incident outside McGettigan’s Hotel in Letterkenny on June 6th, 2021, Molloy was drunk and asked to leave the area.
As he abused Gardai and tried to leave he then struck Garda Sergeant Michael Kilcoyne in the head before kicking him leaving him injured but not seriously.
Another series of incidents involving Molloy during which he was found with cocaine and also another occasion when he struck a passing Mercedes car with his jacket smashing the windscreen and causing €500 of damage were also read out in court.
Molloy had no previous convictions and had not come up through the courts system as a juvenile offender.
Solicitor Frank Murphy said his client was an apprentice bricklayer who lived at home with his parents and was now 20 years old but was only two weeks past his 18th birthday when the most serious of these events occurred.
Mr Murphy said that since these spate of incidents, Molloy does not go out at weekends and has changed his peers as the people he was hanging about with were not a great help to him.
He added that he was going through a traumatic time as his mother was having cancer treatment but that he does have a bright future ahead of him.
He has apologised to Gardai and that he just wants this over with.
Garda Sergeant Collins confirmed that Molloy has not come to Garda attention since these incidents.
Judge Éiteáin Cunningham said she accepted the accused came before the court without previous convictions and that he has engaged with the probation services even though that report was not glowing.
She also noted Molloy has not come to Garda attention since these spate of incidents.
However, she noted that the two matters of particular significance to the court were the two offences whereby two Gardai were assaulted while carrying out their duties.
On each of these charges she sentenced Molloy to three months in prison but suspended both for 12 months under the agreement that he goes under the supervision of the probation services for those 12 months.
She took all the other charges into consideration.
