A woman who appeared before Tuam District Court with 38 previous convictions picked up two more while there, bringing her record to 40.
On top of that, she was remanded back to Ballinasloe District Court on July 2, where it will be decided whether she will serve a three-month suspended sentence imposed on May 28, as the new conviction in Tuam may be a triggering offence.
Sheila Ward, 5 St Brendan’s Court, Loughrea, appeared before before Judge James Faughnan charged with two public order offences. She was charged with one Section 4 offence, which is being drunk in public, and a Section 6 offence, which is disorderly conduct.
Ward has 16 convictions for public drunkenness and eight for disorderly conduct.
As she was taken from custody to meet the charges, she was represented by her solicitor, Martina Moran, as an agreed exception during the current legal aid strike engaged in by criminal law practitioners. Galway practitioners have agreed to deal only with exceptional cases. Ms Moran said her client had issues with alcohol.
Judge Faughnan imposed four months’ imprisonment on both charges and remanded her back to Ballinasloe District Court on July 2 to deal with the matter of whether the suspended sentence had been triggered.
