'There will be no more trouble': Young man can return to live with mother under conditions

A MAN has been allowed to return to live with his mother after a judge was assured that an “incipient feud” within the family was over.

John O’Driscoll, 19, will be allowed to return to live at 10 Mardyke Drive in Skibbereen under certain conditions after he received a 90-day suspended jail sentence.

At Bantry District Court, Mr O’Driscoll pleaded guilty to a charge of trespass at a relative’s home elsewhere in the town but pleaded not guilty to a separate charge of criminal damage to a door.

Sgt Trish O’Sullivan told Judge James McNulty that at 12.50am on November 15 last the occupant at the house at Newbridge Park contacted gardaí and alleged Mr O’Driscoll was on the property without permission.

Mr O’Driscoll’s solicitor, Flor Murphy, said there was a family connection. Judge McNulty referred to an “incipient feud” and remarked that there may be a “family feud going on in the background”.

Mr O’Driscoll had two previous public order convictions and Mr Murphy said his client was “getting himself in difficulty” and that “he seems to be a troubled young man”.

Drug use

The court heard that Mr O’Driscoll had been a heavy user of cannabis for the past five years, but he told the court he had now been sober for 10 days and was on a waiting list for a treatment programme.

Judge McNulty said that he understood that cannabis addiction was the easiest of all the addictions to overcome if there was sufficient will and compliance.

Mr O’Driscoll’s brother, Alan, said he had been aware of John’s drug use for the past two years but was unaware that it had extended to five years. He also told the judge he believed other substances had been abused by his brother and that he was willing to monitor him, suggesting that his sibling wanted to stop using drugs and could get back into education. The court also heard that Mr O’Driscoll is an expectant father.

Sentencing

Judge McNulty said he wanted to nip the situation in the bud, particularly in the context of trespass in the early hours of the morning and when people were upset at a feud that may be developing.

He sentenced Mr O’Driscoll to 90 days in prison but suspended it on conditions which include that he keep the peace and not use or consume any controlled drug.

The judge said Mr O’Driscoll was also to provide an oral fluid sample on request from gardaí and undergo random urine analysis at the request of the Probation Service, with a supervision order in place for one year.

Sgt O’Sullivan said gardaí had concerns regarding a return to living in Skibbereen for Mr O’Driscoll in light of recent events, but Alan O’Driscoll told the judge that any family difficulties were now over, adding: “There will be no more trouble.”

The judge said Mr O’Driscoll would be allowed to live with his mother and he granted a garda condition that Mr O’Driscoll sign on daily at Skibbereen Garda Station and that he observe a curfew from 9pm to 8am. He is also to stay away from the area of the trespass, with a trial date in December for the criminal damage charge.