A man has been jailed for a month for urinating in a Garda cell in Co Donegal after being arrested.
Andrew O’Neill appeared at Letterkenny District Court after a drunken episode at Letterkenny bus station on April 3rd, 2024.
The 34-year-old was drunk and becoming aggressive with a bus driver at 1.35pm on the day in question.
Gardai were called and O’Neill, of Gardiner Street in Dublin, was arrested.
He was taken to Letterkenny Garda Station and was searched.
A quantity of drugs with a street value of €40 was found on the accused.
When he was put into the holding cell, O’Neill urinated on a cell door.
He was charged with causing criminal damage, being intoxicated in a public place and failing to comply with the directions of An Garda Siochana.
O’Neill, who has 58 previous convictions including many under the Misuse of Drugs Act, is currently in custody on other matters.
Solicitor for the accused, Mr Rory O’Brien said his client had come to Donegal from his native Dublin in a bid to kick his drug habit.
On the day he was under the influence and Mr O’Brien said his client regrets all that happened.
He added that when this happened he was on a “downward spiral” through alcohol and that he continues to need a significant amount of assistance for his addiction.
Judge Eiteain Cunningham put it to Garda Sergeant Jim Collins that she presumed the station cell required a “deep clean” following the incident adding that this was simply “not acceptable behaviour.”
Judge Cunningham sentenced O’Neill to two months in prison for the criminal damage charge and took the other charges into consideration.
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