Cork man receives €200 fine after 202 drunkenness convictions

A 59‑year‑old man from Carrigaline, Co Cork, was fined €200 after pleading guilty to being intoxicated to the extent that he was a danger to himself or others.

Francis Kearns, of 2 Church Road, appeared before Cork District Court where he admitted the offence. Sergeant John Dineen testified that the incident occurred at 5.30 pm on 16 January on Grand Parade, Cork, and that Kearns was unable to stand unaided due to his intoxication.

The court was told Kearns has a total of 375 previous convictions, including 202 for drunkenness. District Judge David Waters noted that while the tally is not a record, it is “not far off it” and placed it in the “bronze or silver category” of such offences.

Under Irish law, the offence of being drunk and a danger to oneself or others carries a fine as the sole penalty. Defence solicitor Diarmuid Kelleher said that most of Kearns’s arrests have been on the single count of being drunk and a danger.

Source: Irish Examiner. Photo: Selim Karadayı / Pexels.