A Skibbereen-based woman had to set out from home at 4am to make it to Galway to face her public order charge, the local district court was told this week.
Defence solicitor Cathy McDarby told Judge Fiona Lydon that the woman before her was not the same woman who got herself into trouble and was arrested on a public order charge last June. She was now clean, receiving help for her addiction issues, and had accommodation in Skibbereen.
She was homeless when she got into an argument with a man at a city bus stop. Gardaí arrived and told her to leave the scene, but she refused and was arrested on public order charges.
Vivian Roche, Skibbereen, Co Cork, was homeless at the time. Garda evidence presented stated she was very drunk and making a nuisance of herself. The defence pleaded that she was turning her life around. She had support accommodation as long as she behaves.
However, Judge Lydon was told Roche had 29 previous convictions and had a suspended sentence from Fermoy District Court. The Galway offence was a triggering one, meaning she has to go back to Fermoy for it to be decided there whether or not she will go into custody.
Judge Lydon imposed a six-month sentence, suspended for two years, and warned Roche that if she came back before her in that period, she would go to prison.
