Knife 'fell out of bag' when doctor was drunk at leisure centre in Offaly hotel
Man paid €1,000 to charity, Tullamore District Court is told
A hospital doctor who was drunk and seen with a knife in the leisure centre of a Tullamore hotel has paid €1,000 to charity.
Tullamore District Court was told that Jerome White, Edriona House, The Bungalows, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, had made the payment to Brain Tumour Ireland.
White's solicitor Aisling Maloney said the money had been paid but her client was not in court, despite usually attending.
Judge Andrew Cody adjourned finalisation of the matter to December 18 next for the man to be present in court.
A sitting of the court in October had heard that on November 25 last year 37-year-old White had gone to the leisure centre of the Tullamore Court Hotel where he was seen by other users of the facility who became concerned.
Ms Maloney told the court there was no nefarious intent on her client's part and the knife had fallen out of his bag when he was changing.
White pleaded guilty to intoxication in a public place at the Tullamore Court Hotel, O'Moore Street, and a weapons offence of having a knife which had a blade or was sharply pointed.
The court was told that White is a medical doctor with the HSE who worked as a locum doctor in a number of hospitals throughout Ireland, including Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore.
Ms Maloney handed in a letter from the mental health services outlining her client's mental health difficulties.
White told the court he was not presently working and Sergeant Brendan Kearns said he had no previous convictions and had not come to garda attention since November last year.
Judge Andrew Cody said that if €1,000 was paid to Brain Tumour Ireland he would strike out the case and remanded the accused on continuing bail.