Defendant gets 14 months in prison

SUSPENDED sentences imposed two years ago came back to haunt a 32-year-old defendant, when they were all activated at a recent sitting of Monaghan District Court in view of further offences committed during the period of probation.

Shane O’Leary of Glenview Drive, Monaghan Town, was ordered to serve the 14 months that accumulated from consecutive sentences originally imposed on February 19, 2024. Those sentences had been given in respect of earlier public order offences.

They were made up of a two-month term for threatening a breach of the peace, a further three months for obstructing a garda, five months for producing an article during a dispute, and four months for refusing to follow a garda’s directions.

All those sentences had been made consecutive, but suspended for 24 months, which meant the defendant was at risk of having them activated if he committed any offences before February 18 of this year.

But Mr O’Leary was involved in further public order breaches at Killygowan, Monaghan Town, on November 2, 2025, in respect of which he had been sentenced to four months’ prison for refusing to comply with Garda Debbie McDaid, and two months (consecutive) for engaging in abusive behaviour on the occasion.

Those sentences had again been suspended by Judge Raymond Finnegan when they were finalised at the court on February 16 gone by.

But the judge also issued a ‘Section 99’ order (under the Criminal Justice Act, 2006) to have O’Leary brought before him to consider whether the older set of suspended sentences should be revoked in view of the November offences at Killygowan.

When dealing with the matter at the court recently, Judge Finnegan reminded Mr O’Leary that the sentences previously handed down had been suspended “at a stretch”, given his previous track record (he had amassed 73 convictions by February 2024).

He pointed out to Shane Kennedy, solicitor, defending, that Mr O’Leary had been warned “to within an inch of his life” about what would happen if he reoffended during the two-year period of the suspensions.

But he didn’t take those chances and the suspensions were therefore being revoked in full, Judge Finnegan stated. This left the defendant with an effective sentence amounting to 14 months.

Meanwhile, a concurrent three-month prison sentence was also imposed on Mr O’Leary for having allowed himself to be carried in a stolen car at Crossmoyle, Clones, Co Monaghan on February 22, 2025.

Sergeant Lisa McEntee said a named individual had reported the unauthorised taking of his Toyota Corolla on that date. The vehicle was later recovered by gardaí, and CCTV from a shop in Clones showed O’Leary in its front passenger seat as it passed by.

* Published with support from the Court Reporting Scheme.