‘A bit of a scourge’ on the town - Judge

A Monaghan man, who has been living as a vagrant for about five years since being put out of his house, was given consecutive prison sentences totalling 12 months when he appeared at Monaghan District Court recently.

Kevin Mulligan (43) with an address given at Mall Road, Monaghan town, and also of “no fixed abode”, pleaded guilty to 14 charges, roughly half of which were for thefts with the rest relating to breaches of the public order.

Mulligan, who was in custody after being arrested the evening before the court hearing, admitted trespassing on a building in a manner likely to cause fear to another person at New Terrace, Monaghan Town, on February 24, 2025.

He pleaded guilty to stealing a can of alcohol worth €5.60, and later alcohol products worth €14.45, both from Circle K, Coolshannagh, Monaghan town on March 16 last.

Admissions were also made in relation to stealing money, by unauthorised use of a stolen debit card, on two occasions at Wineways, Glaslough Street, Monaghan Town on April 1, the first amount coming to €15.35 and the second to €25.50.

The next day, April 2, he used the same Visa card, the property of a named individual, to obtain goods worth €8 at Istanbul Kebab House, Dublin Street, Monaghan, and he also admitted to handling stolen property, namely the debit card, while at Monaghan Garda Station at Kilnacloy later on that date.

Mulligan pleaded guilty to further charges relating to public order breaches, including admissions of being intoxicated in public and being abusive at Market Street, Monaghan, on April 27; being intoxicated at the town’s Glaslough Street on May 27; being drunk and abusive at Old Cross Square, Monaghan on June 21; and similarly being intoxicated and engaging in abusive behaviour at Old Cross Square on July 22, at which point he was taken into custody.

Regarding the trespassing incident on February 2, Paul Boyce, solicitor, said this had arisen from a situation whereby his client was occupying an old house at the back of his own house after being made homeless.

Inspector Declan McGarvey said Mulligan had 22 previous convictions, the most recent of which was handed down at Monaghan Circuit Court last March when he got five months’ imprisonment for a theft offence.

Judge Raymond Finnegan said it would be fair to say that Mr Mulligan was “a bit of a scourge” on the town at this stage.

Mr Boyce pointed to an “unusual” aspect of his client’s offending, which was that he was now 43 and had maintained a clean record up to 2021. He was clearly an alcoholic but also had limited cognitive ability and had attended a special school.

He previously lived with his father, but they had fallen out and he was put out of the house. This was a few years back and he had essentially been wandering around Monaghan Town and “dossing in disused houses” since that time.

All those factors, including the alcoholism, had led to the current situation, and alcohol was indeed his real problem. He had no fixed abode at present and was single with no dependants.

Judge Finnegan said the defendant’s record confirmed everything his solicitor had said. It included a lot of petty thefts, and many of the businesses affected must be “sick to the sight of Mr Mulligan at this stage”. But although the thefts were small, they were continuous, and that was the problem.

On that basis he imposed two-month prison sentences, all consecutive to each other, for the alcohol thefts at Circle K and Wineways (four in total), and for the use of the stolen debit card at Istanbul Kebab House and the handling of it at Monaghan Garda Station. That came to 12 months in total, the judge noted.

Mr Boyce said it was unlikely his client would seek to appeal the ruling and that he was not, therefore, seeing recognisances for any such appeal at this stage.