A man who was warned to stay out of Galway as part of a continuing feud between two families was carrying a large barbecue-style knife in his car when stopped by gardaí.
Imposing a five-month prison sentence for the offence at Galway District Court, Judge Mary Fahy said it was outrageous that anyone would drive around with such a weapon in their car.
Charles Ward (20), Carrowbrowne halting site, Headford Road, Galway, pleaded guilty to the offence which was detected by Garda Danny Costello who searched Ward's car on January 10th last on Headford Road.
Garda Costello, who produced the knife in court, said Ward told him he was afraid to come into Galway because of a feud between his family and another family in Galway.
Ward failed to turn up in court on January 28th to answer the charge, and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.
A solicitor for the defence, Ms Olivia Traynor, told the court that her client's brother had been badly beaten up by members of the other family, and her client had suffered an attack also.
He had been warned to stay out of Galway and, while he had never made a complaint to gardaí about the assault, he decided to carry the knife even though he never intended using it. Ms Traynor said Ward didn't attend court in January because he was afraid to come into Galway.
Judge Fahy said gardaí were there to protect everyone and nobody was entitled to carry a weapon whether they were in fear or not. She said she believed Ward would have used the knife.
She sentenced him to five months' detention and imposed one month, to run consecutively, for not turning up in court in January.