Man jumped into ambulance front seat in act of ‘lunacy’

A DONEGAL native who jumped into the front seat of an ambulance after drinking on St Patrick’s Day avoided a criminal conviction despite his ‘lunacy and idiocy’.
Shaun Boyle of 28 Blackfort Rise, Barrack Hill, Newport, was charged with Section 6 of the Public Order Act for threatening, insulting and abusive behaviour in the early hours of March 18 last.
Last week’s sitting of Westport District Court heard that Mr Boyle (24) jumped into the front seat of the ambulance while staff were dealing with an incident on Main Street, Newport, at 2.30am.
He was told to get out by gardaí and while he did, he became abusive to gardaí and refused to give his details. He was then arrested and charged.
Mr Dermot Morahan, solicitor for Mr Boyle, said his client was a plumber who had finished his exams in Dublin and travelled to Newport, where he lives at the weekend with his partner and young child.
Mr Boyle, he said, had gone out and become intoxicated on the night and had little or no recollection of what happened. Mr Morahan said that when his client was released, he returned later that day to apologise to the gardaí for what happened. He added that he intends to live in Newport and felt his reputation and that of his family had been affected by the incident.
Judge Mary Devins said being drunk should not be used as a mitigating factor. If the incident had occurred across the border, she said, another six months would have been added to the sentence. She said the emergency services were trying to help people, and described his actions on the night as one of ‘lunacy and idiocy’.
The court was informed he has no previous convictions and Judge Devins said she would give him the benefit of the Probation Act if he donated €300 to the Ballyglass Lifeboat.