Cork woman ‘having a bad day’ damaged neighbours homes   

A woman made a bad day worse when she went drinking on the day she was being evicted from her home, and went on to cause damage to her neighbours’ properties and then react badly to investigating gardaí.

Detective Garda Aidan d’Ardis investigated the case against 44-year-old Eva Hogan for causing criminal damage to homes of two neighbours at Redbarn Cottages, Youghal, Co Cork, as well as kicking the dog belonging to one neighbour.

Det Garda d’Ardis said the cruelty to the dog was dealt with previously at district court level and that the criminal damage offences were now for sentencing at Cork Circuit Criminal Court.

Susan Lewis, defence barrister, said of Ms Hogan: “Her life was chaotic at the time, against certain domestic difficulties.”

Reasonable

Det Garda d’Ardis agreed: “She is reasonable to deal with when sober, but when under the influence of something, she is far from reasonable.”

Ms Lewis said: “She was in emergency accommodation for months after this and now has a county council tenancy.

“She has expressed remorse. She had received [an] eviction notice on the morning that the offending took place.

“She made the unwise decision to have some alcohol on the day.”

Judge Helen Boyle said: “I accept she was having a very bad day. She was being evicted but she made a bad day worse by having alcohol with her medication.

“The poor dog did not deserve a kick. The behaviour in relation to the police officers is very concerning. She does appear to be in a more stable part of her life and has not come to attention since this occurred in October 2023.”

Judge Boyle said she wanted to see that the accused could stay out of trouble and she wanted her to make “a tangible contribution” to her former neighbours.

For both of those reasons, the judge adjourned sentencing until July 31.