A Ballinrobe man who rang the Gardai and informed them he was going to ‘smash every window in the Garda barracks’ was given a total of 22 months in prison.
John Conroy of 19 Loughmask Rd, Ballinrobe was handed down four months less than the maximum allowable imprisonment by law for a string of crimes over November of 2010. Mr Conroy pleaded guilty to four counts of criminal damage - one relating to November, 6 of last year when Mr Conroy rang Gardai and informed them he was going to break every window in the Ballinrobe Garda Station.
Mr Conroy went on to smash a number of windows in an adjacent building and smashed a triple glazed window in the Garda station by throwing a cone through it. Mr Conroy initially refuted the claim that he smashed the windows on the nearby building but on inspection his white tracksuit jacket with his name on the inside label marked “John Conroy” was found inside the building.
CCTV in the Garda station showed Mr Conroy throwing the cone through the window of the Garda Station and before being apprehended by the Gardai he shouted: “Ye f**king pigs.”
Mr Conroy was arrested again on November 14 after drunkenly smashing the cash register in Supermacs - an incident that reoccurred on November 21 where Mr Conroy again smashed a cash register causing a total of €1,750 damage - Mr Conroy was also arrested the day before the second incident, November 20, for shouting abuse at passers-by in Claremorris.
Mr Conroy caused a total of €4,380 damage over the course of November and had 50 previous convictions including a conviction for carrying a knife.
Defence solicitor Aiden Crowley claimed that the man had serious problems with alcohol and drugs but failed to address them in the meantime and that he was in no position to make any contribution to the damage caused.
“He is a 24 year old single man who has a serious problem with drink and drugs. He has been in and out of prison from an early age and has failed to address his problems,” concluded Mr Crowley.
Judge David Anderson handed down a 22 month sentence in total and backdated the beginning of the sentence to November 23 when he was initially placed in custody.
