A LITTLE KNOWN lacuna or anomaly in the law which means a person convicted of a traffic offence cannot receive the benefit of a Garda adult caution was brought to the attention of Galway District Court this week by a local solicitor.
Olivia Traynor solr. made her observation when defending a young man who appeared before Judge Adrian Harris on public order charges. She pleaded that her client, Paul Mannion, Cuilmore, Bealnamulla, Roscommon, had not received a fixed charge fine issued by the Gardaí which, if paid, would not have required his appearance before the Court.
Because her client had road traffic convictions, he was not eligible under law to benefit from an adult caution either, a little known fact, and this brought him before the Court.
The Judge was told that the defendant got into a dispute with door staff at a Salthill hotel and Gardaí were called. Mannion continued to be abusive and to behave aggressively towards hotel staff and also towards the Gardaí. A fixed charge fine was issued for a public order charge but this was not paid. The defendant had two previous convictions for road traffic offences but none for public order.
He was charged with being drunk in a public place and using threatening and abusive behaviour under Sections Four and Six of the Public Order Act. The State withdrew the threatening and abusive charge in light of the guilty plea.
Ms Traynor said that her client was taking the matter very seriously and not as “a bit of a laugh”. He had called back to the hotel after the incident to apologise for his behaviour. There had been another person with him on the night who was not prosecuted. His parents were supporting him but didn’t approve of his behaviour.
She went on to plead that her client was a very bright young man with great potential. He had learned a salutary lesson and wanted to set up his own business, so a criminal conviction would be quite serious for him. She asked the Judge to give him a chance as, apart from road traffic matters, he had never had any dealings with the Gardaí and had not come to their attention since 2023 when the incident before the Court occurred.
Judge Harris noted that Mannion had returned to the hotel to apologise for his behaviour and this showed remorse so he would accede to Ms Traynor’s plea to give her client a chance. He said that if a charitable donation of €400 was made to Galway Hospice the charge would be struck out. If he did not, then a fine of €600 and a conviction would be imposed.
Ms Traynor thanked Judge Harris for giving her client this “amazing opportunity”.
