A man who was highly intoxicated in a hospital A&E unit earlier this week told a District Court judge yesterday he was drunk at the time from having consumed poitín which had originally been obtained for treating a sick dog.
Alan Traynor, Abbeytown, Crossmolina, Co Mayo, told Judge Mary Devins at Castlebar District Court he had not meant to drink the poitín which had been procured for a German Shepherd which was ill.
“To rub on?” Judge Devins asked. Traynor provoked some mirth in court when he replied: “The dog did not drink it anyway”.
Garda Kieran Brett said staff at the A&E unit in Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar, reported having difficulty with him at about 3.15am last Monday. He was highly intoxicated and told gardaí who arrived: “You’ll be sorry. You’ll regret this, I promise you.”
Judge Devins struck out a charge of being intoxicated in a public place. For threatening and abusive behaviour, she directed that he write a letter of apology to A&E staff and pay €300 to the Ann Sullivan Centre for the Deaf and Blind.