'Straight to jail' warning for Offaly mechanic who's been ' a nuisance to the gardai for long enough'

A MAN with 56 previous convictions has been warned that if he is charged with any offence in the next six months he will be sent to prison.

Tullamore District Court heard that Martynas Jurkaitis (27), Sandymount, Birr, now had a job and that would help keep him off alcohol.

Sergeant James O'Sullivan told Judge Andrew Cody that alcohol was the problem with Mr Jurkaitis who had pleaded guilty to committing a public order offence at a SuperValu supermarket in Birr on April 17 last.

The man had also been in court previously accused of public order offences on June 25 last year at Cemetery Road, Birr.

When he came before the District Court last week his solicitor Donal Farrelly said he had been previously released from detention so that he could get into a treatment centre for alcohol addiction.

In the meantime he had got a full time job in Birr as a mechanic after being unemployed at the time he was committing offences.

Mr Farrelly added that his client had difficulty getting a doctor in Birr to take him on and refer him for alcohol treatment.

Judge Cody said Mr Jurkaitis had 56 previous convictions and he had previously given him options of seeking addiction treatment or a prison sentence.

“Either go to Cuan Mhuire or the North Circular Road or the Dublin Road in Portlaoise,” said the judge.

Mr Farrelly asked that the accused not be sent to prison and said that when he is working he does not drink.

He urged Judge Cody to adjourn sentence to see if the man could remain alcohol-free, stay in employment and out of trouble.

Judge Cody said he would remand Mr Jurkaitis on continuing bail to November 15 next but warned him that another charge, even without a conviction, would result in him going straight to jail.

“I don't like insulting people here but you've been a nuisance to the gardai for long enough.”

A previous court sitting was told the accused was a Lithuanian man who spoke good English.

Most of his previous convictions were for road traffic offences and he had once been disqualified from driving for 15 years.

During the incident at Cemetery Road he was verbally abusive to gardai and would not allow them to handcuff him. The gardai had to use pepperspray, the court heard.