A man who was stripped to the waist and acting aggressively in Cork city told gardaí: “Arrest me, you’d be doing me a favour.” 

Now at Cork District Court, 28-year-old William Condon has been jailed for two months for his outburst.

Defence solicitor Pat Horan asked Judge Olann Kelleher to note the comment that the young man made to gardaí on Anderson Street on the day of the incident. “He was going through a tough time. He found liberty difficult. But he has gotten back on track and is keen to get back into St. Vincent’s hostel where he was residing.”

Condon will also have to appear at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in a fortnight for the possible revocation of the suspension on a one-year sentence. The public order incident on February 28 triggers the re-entry of that matter at the circuit court.

In the circuit court, a three-year jail sentence was imposed with the last year suspended for an attack on a 51-year-old woman.

Garda Ian Tanner said the injured party had received a text to bring cigarettes to the house on the night where Condon and others were drinking. She brought a packet of cigarettes to the house and sat down for a few minutes chatting to Condon and three other people who were there. He assaulted this woman simply because she had said that the violence depicted in a YouTube video was unwarranted and should not be encouraged.

In Cork District Court, Sergeant John Kelleher said the accused was holding a Centra plastic bag in his hand when gardaí encountered him. He threw it down on the ground at the feet of the gardaí. Condon had 99 previous convictions including 10 for being drunk and a danger and eight for engaging in threatening behaviour.