Prison sentence for man who poured concrete type substance onto pub floor in Offaly

A MAN who poured a cement type substance onto the lounge floor of a pub in Offaly came back a second and third time to the same premises.

Aaron Campbell, Kingston House, Cree, Fortall, Birr, appeared at a recent district court sitting in Tullamore charged with criminal damage and public order offences.

In his evidence Sergeant Richard Thornton said that on January 12, 2024, Mr Campbell entered the Blackthorn pub on Main Street in Daingean and poured the substance on the floor. He left and returned and repeated the same offence. He returned a third time and smashed the windows of a white Nissan car which was parked outside the premises.

Gardai located Mr Campbell in fields behind a housing estate. He was 'quite intoxicated' said Sergeant Thornton.

He had 12 previous convictions and had received a six month prison sentence for damage to a premises in 2022.

Other previous convictions included criminal damage, a section 3 assault, burglary and a road traffic offence. Mr Campbell is currently serving a prison sentence on another matter.

Solicitor Tony McLynn said that Mr Campbell was not in a good mental state and had taken a lot of alcohol on the date in question. He is 27 years of age and was going through some domestic strife at the time. He was holding his hands up and has been attending AA meetings since his imprisonment.

He is also learning welding in the prison workshop. He had been anxious to go to prison to address his alcohol problem, he said.

''I would ask you to give him some light at the end of the tunnel'' said Mr McLynn to Judge Andrew Cody.

Judge Cody said there is no explanation for his behaviour. He said it was beyond belief that Mr Campbell had gone twice to the pub and then smashed the window of a car.

On each of the criminal damage offences he imposed a four month prison sentence, this will commence on the expiration of his current sentence.

''He needs to start growing up at this stage'' said Judge Cody.