A judge ordered two women to be removed from court when they laughed during evidence about how a drunk used abusive language to a female garda.
Joseph Reilly (34), Le Fanu Drive, Ballyfermot, was fined €450 and sentenced to one month in prison. He pleaded guilty at Kilmainham District Court in Dublin to public drunkenness and breaching the peace in Ballyfermot Parade on September 6th, 2005. Reilly had originally pleaded not guilty to the charges but changed his plea on the hearing date.
Garda Finola Heney told Judge Patrick Brady that she came across Reilly at 11.25pm. He was drunk and when she asked him to move on he told her to "f*** off, you f***ing lesbian".
A number of people in the court then started laughing.
Judge Brady said that he was not going to tolerate that sort of behaviour in court and ordered gardaí to remove two women.
Garda Heney said that Reilly had 11 previous convictions including a four-month suspended sentence from Kilmainham Court in March 2002, for assault.
His solicitor, Shalom Binchy, told Judge Brady that her client's previous convictions had occurred when he had been addicted to heroin.
Judge Brady fined Reilly €350 and sentenced him to one month for breach of the peace and he fined him €100 for the drunkenness charge.
Ms Binchy asked Judge Brady to suspend the sentence.
Judge Brady refused her application.