A mother of six argued at Tuam Court that as a EU citizen she has a right to be drunk in public. She told Judge James Faughnan that in her country she had this right and so it should apply in Ireland where she has lived for 12 years.
Representing herself, as no solicitor was available due to the on-going legal aid dispute, she demanded to know why she was arrested and who were the Gardaí involved.
She arrived in Court from prison, where she is serving a sentence on an unrelated matter, to answer a public order charge. During a somewhat incoherent address, she expressed her unhappiness over her treatment by the Gardaí, the judicial system in general and the charge she faced. She also stated that her prison conditions were less than satisfactory and “the food is horrible.”
Judge Faughnan tried to explain to her that if she dealt with the public order charge there and then there would be no extra jail time imposed. However, Nadine Falke was not amenable to any such compromise at the time and continued to protest her innocence and the right to drink in public, so the Judge set a hearing date of October 13 for her case to be defended.
An earlier Court heard that Ms Falke, 13, St Jarlath’s Court, The Glebe, Tuam had over 70 previous convictions, 62 of which were for similar public order offences.
Last November she had a one-month prison sentence imposed on her for urinating and spitting in a Garda van after her arrest for public drunkenness in Galway. The van needed to be forensically cleansed afterwards at a cost of €181.60.
In addition she received a further two months for causing a disturbance at UCHG the following day.
