Charleville man claims he is living in fear in prison
Thursday July 29 2010
A CHARLEVILLE man, with 53 previous convictions, is living in fear in prison and has to be locked up, alone, in his cell, for 23 hours each day, Judge Mary O'Halloran was told at Kilmallock District Court.
Judge O'Halloran was hearing details of a number of crimes committed by Brian Lysaght of 27 De Valera Place, Charleville, on dates between March 6 and 22 of this year.
Superintendent Pat McCarthy said that the Gardai responded to a call at Oliver Plunkett Place on March 22. They found that the back window of a house was broken, and the accused and another individual were hiding behind the kitchen counter. Both individuals were arrested, and Lysaght told Gardai he went in there" because it was cold and wet".
On March 6, 2010, Superintendent McCarthy continued, there was a report of a domestic row in progress in DeValera Place, on the public green area. There was a large crowd in the area, the Superintendent said, because the funeral of a local young man had been held earlier.
At the public green, Lysaght , "was raving and ranting at the gardaí and he squared up to them; he stripped down to the waist and danced around the public road. He had a bottle raised over his head and was speaking in a threatening manner." Lysaght then told a Garda Sergeant "to fuck off for himself", and when he was told that there was a bench warrant hanging over him he said he "wasn't afraid of jail".
On March 17, St Patrick's Day, gardaí received a report that a man had been punched and had his mobile phone stolen in the park in Charleville. When gardaí gave chase, the accused jumped over a wall and hid beneath a car. They eventually located the accused, and found the mobile phone on his person. He admitted that he had punched the man and that he climbed over a wall and they found him hiding underneath the car. The phone was found in his pocket, and he admitted punching the man.
Lysaght is currently serving six months in prison, and is due for release in October of this year. Solicitor Declan Duggan told the court that his client is 28 years of age. "He is from a family background that wouldn't be typical and he left school at the age of 11. His supervision during the fragile teenage years wasn't what it might have been, and he went off the rails."
In relation to the March 22 incident, Mr Duggan said: "He was vagrant at the time, homeless, he had nowhere else to stay and that's typical of the lifestyle he has led over the last ten years or so."
Lysaght's solicitor continued: "In a recent attack in prison, he suffered severe injuries and has to be locked up 23 hours a day whilst he is in prison because of fears for his own safety. Any sentence that you might impose is a far more serious penalty then it might otherwise be - because of the circumstances."
Judge O'Halloran imposed a three-month prison sentence for the trespass offence, consecutive to the six months being served.
She imposed another consecutive three-month sentence in relation to the assault on March 17 and a further two months, consecutive, on his failure to obey the directions of the gardaí on March 22.
