‘Line has to be drawn somewhere,’ judge tells Monaghan defendant

A MONAGHAN man, who committed public order breaches while on a suspended sentence for assaults, was given prison terms coming to two months at a recent sitting of Monaghan District Court, where Judge Derek Cooney remarked that “the line has to be drawn somewhere”.

Stephen Mulligan (39) of Mall Road, Monaghan Town, had been convicted in his absence at an earlier sitting of the court in relation to public order breaches on two separate dates. The most recent was on August 19, 2025, when he was charged with threatening a breach of the peace and being intoxicated at Mall Road, Monaghan Town. Over a year earlier, on April 2, 2024, a summons had alleged that Mulligan engaged in threatening behaviour at the town’s Old Cross Square.

At that hearing, presided over by Judge Ciaran Liddy, Garda Eimhear Fagan said there had been a report of loud shouting and banging at the defendant’s house on Mall Road at about 10.30pm on August 19 last. When gardaí arrived they saw the elderly owner of the house come to a top window to tell them he couldn’t leave his bedroom. When they opened the door, the defendant, Stephen Mulligan came running out onto the street, where he started shouting up at his father. He was highly intoxicated and aggressive, and was arrested.

Regarding the incident at Old Cross Square in April 2024, Garda Craig Curran told Judge Liddy that a female neighbour of the defendant’s had called to Monaghan Garda Station to say she had received a call earlier in the day from her son, who had told her he was running away from Stephen Mulligan on the Mall Road.

The lady in question took to the witness stand and gave evidence that her son called her to say “come quick”. She said she could hear “familiar” shouting in the background, and she knew it was Mulligan’s voice. She went to collect her son and, when Mulligan appeared, she told him not to be frightening the boy.

But Mulligan squared up, came over to her car door and started pointing his finger and telling her, “I know where you live”. She said she is not afraid of Stephen but was fearful at the time because he was very aggressive towards her.

Judge Liddy indicated that he was convicting Mulligan in respect of both incidents and issuing a bench warrant for his arrest for sentencing.

The court heard the defendant had 35 previous convictions, many of which were public order related, while a number of others were for assaults and possession of drugs.

When arrested and brought before Judge Cooney at the more recent hearing, the facts in relation to both incidents, including the list of previous convictions, were recalled again.

Roisin Courtney, solicitor, said her client was his own worst enemy. It was accepted that he was a “nuisance” locally and well known to gardaí. His drinking did not help matters, but he had a learning disability and was in some ways “almost harmless”.

Stating that Stephen also cared for his elderly father, who he lived with, Ms Courtney implored the court not to send him “up the road”.

Sergeant Damien Galligan, however, said he had to bring another matter to the attention of the judge, which was that in January 2025 Mulligan was given two consecutive three-month prison sentences on two counts of assault causing harm. That six-month term was suspended for 24 months on condition that there be no reoffending, but the August 2025 offence had occurred inside that time period.

For the April 2024 incident involving the woman and her son, Judge Cooney said he was imposing one months’ imprisonment, while another one-month term was given for the August 2025 matter at the defendant’s house on Mall Road. The terms were made consecutive, bringing them to two months in total.

Recognisances for any appeal were set at €300 in the defendant’s own bond.

Judge Cooney said he would probably have given Mulligan the benefit of a non-custodial sentence were it not for the fact that the August offences were committed after he was given the benefit of a suspended sentence.

“The line has to be drawn somewhere,” was how the judge summed it up.