A 19-year-old man was convicted of two public order offences and given a three-month suspended sentence when he appeared before Limerick District Court this morning.
Liam Keane of Singland Gardens, Ballysimon, Limerick appeared by arrangement with gardai after a bench warrant was issued for his arrest yesterday when he failed to turn up in court.
Keane was the defendant in a murder trial which collapsed at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin earlier this week after the Director of Prosecutions decided not to proceed with the case against him.
Before the court this morning, he was charged with being drunk and engaging in threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour at the Parkway shopping centre on October 19th last.
Keane's solicitor said his client only became aware of the bench warrant issued for his arrest after his mother heard it on local radio on Tuesday.
There was no intention on Keane's part to ignore the bench warrant and his client had attended court by arrangement with gardai, the solicitor said.
A garda told the court Keane was intoxicated and "extremely verbally abusive" to a number of people after he was arrested. He had a number of previous convictions and had last year served a three-month sentence for a similar pubic order offence.
Judge Tom O'Donnell said that despite the jail term, the defendant had engaged in exactly the same type of behaviour again.
The judge convicted Keane on the charge of threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour and sentenced him to three months in prison. However, he suspended the sentence on condition that Keane keep the peace for two years.
Keane was also fined €127 on the count of being intoxicated in a public place. The judge warned him that in future he would not tolerate such behaviour.