Four Tipperary hurling stars from Mullinahone were each ordered by a judge yesterday to pay €350 to the court poor box to avoid a conviction arising from high jinks in a Border town.
The four members of this year's victorious All-Ireland Club Championship team faced charges of alleged indecency, threatening and abusive behaviour, giving false names to gardaí, and intoxication under the Public Order Act.
Appearing before Castleblayney (Co Monaghan) District Court were : Adrian Maher, Niall Curran, Noel Leahy and Bill Tobin.
Garda Noel Conway, Castleblayney, told the court the four were members of the victorious Mullinahone team invited for a weekend to Castleblayney.
He said that following a report from a woman at about 4.30 a.m. last March 31st, he went to an area at the end of the town where he found the four accused young men lying across the roadway in an intoxicated state "with their trousers at their ankles in what can be described as mooning".
The garda said the four, whose behaviour was threatening, abusive and insulting, gave wrong names and addresses at the time, thus causing distress to other people in Co Tipperary including a bereaved family. One of the accused gave the name of a person who had died.
"It took some time and assistance from the gardaí at Mullinahone before we were able to establish the correct identities."
Defending lawyer Mr Peter Coyle said: "These men are all of excellent character and have expressed great remorse over what happened. They feel they have let down their club and their families."
Judge Flann Brennan agreed to dismiss all the charges upon each defendant undertaking to pay €350 to the court poor box.