Prison sentence for addict caught 'doing his business' in toilets of Limerick company

A HEROIN addict who entered the offices of Live 95 to inject drugs did so “to get out of the freezing cold of the street”, Limerick Circuit Court heard.

Martin Blunnie, aged 32, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to trespass at a building on the Dock Road and burglary of a pharmacy.

John O’Sullivan BL, prosecuting, said in the early hours of February 14, 2020, the window of O’Malley’s Life Pharmacy, St Nessan’s Road, Dooradoyle was “brazenly” smashed with an iron bar.

“The intruder stole xanax tablets. It was a male wearing a hood and scarf. Gardai responded to the alarm but he had made good his escape. The internal CCTV system was damaged. He left the iron bar. Blood on it was a match to Mr Blunnie,” said Mr O’Sullivan.

The investigating garda, Patricia McCormack said when he was interviewed and asked about the damage he caused to a local business, Blunnie replied: “If I wasn’t a drug addict that wouldn’t have happened.”

At around 12.50am on November 7, 2020, Mr O’Sullivan said gardai responded to a report of an intruder in the building on the Dock Road where Live 95 is based.

“Gardai went to the scene and Mr Blunnie was arrested in the building. A security guard heard some noise. One of the cubicles in the women’s toilets was locked. He knocked on the door. The reply was: “It’s only Martin. I’m just doing my business.”

“The toilet seat was damaged. When gardai arrived he was sitting on the toilet with a syringe in his left hand. He told gardai to “f*** off” a number of times and had to be pepper sprayed. He was caught in the act. It was fortunate there was no significant damage caused and it wasn’t business hours,” said Mr O’Sullivan.

The barrister said Blunnie is originally from Kilrush and has chronic heroin issues. Previous convictions include burglary, theft, handling stolen property, possession of drugs, robbery, assault, forgery, possession of knives and trespassing.

Josephine Treacy BL, representing Blunnie, asked Garda McCormack if on the night of the burglary he had been discharged from hospital? “Yes,” said Garda McCormack.

Ms Treacy said he went across the road to “feed his habit”.

Regarding the trespass at Live 95, Ms Treacy asked the investigating garda if the door was open? “Yes,” said Garda McCormack.

Ms Treacy said it was “not a forced entry”.

The defending barrister said Blunnie has been homeless since 2016 and was in the “grips of a chronic addiction”.

In relation to the burglary, Ms Treacy said: “He expressed remorse to gardai and apologises to the business owners. There was no great level of organisation (in these crimes). He was simply trying to feed his habit. There are no excuses.”

Regarding the trespass in the radio station, Ms Treacy said he was simply trying to “feed his habit”.

“There was no altercation with the security guard. He was highly intoxicated. The sole purpose was to inject drugs out of the freezing cold on the street,” said Ms Treacy.

She said his previous convictions stem from his drug addiction and he has designs to rehabilitate himself.

Judge Tom O’Donnell said this is a common story.

“I don’t want to sound facetious regarding a drug spiral but often there is a cycle of committing crimes, do the time, when they get out they get involved in drugs again and end up back in custody. The taking of drugs is a voluntary action,” said Judge O’Donnell.

He said people are entitled to expect when they close their business at night time to be able to open it in the morning. Judge O’Donnell questioned the “wisdom” of breaking into a local radio station. The trespass charge was taken into consideration.

For burglary at the pharmacy, Judge O’Donnell imposed a two and a half year sentence backdated to November 9, 2020, when Blunnie was remanded in custody. The last 12 months were suspended.

Addressing Blunnie, Judge O’Donnell said: “Get as much assistance as you can in prison and don’t fall through the cracks when you get out.”