A year in prison for offences ‘caused by drink and drugs’

A HOMELESS man, who smashed a pharmacy window after being refused prescription drugs, has been sentenced to a total of 12 months in jail after he was convicted of charges including criminal damage, assault and theft.

Richard McCullough was brought from custody to appear at Cavan District Court on January 9 when his defence barrister, Dimitry Grinberg, said McCullough “entered pleas to everything”.

McCullough (26) whose address was given as Dundalk Simon Community, admitted to seven offences including assaulting a counter assistant in a pharmacy, damaging €225 worth of clothes at Dunnes Stores, urinating in the back of a garda van, stealing from a shop and a pharmacy, and breaking the front door of a second pharmacy. The court heard how on August 20, 2025, Richard McCullough entered Dunaree Pharmacy, Lisnaniskey, Kells Road, Kingscourt “demanding a prescription for Diazepam” and, when staff couldn’t help him, he “threw a computer keyboard at a member of staff”.

“He threw other stuff as well,” Sergeant Damien Galligan told the court. “Then, he went outside and threw a rock at the front door of the pharmacy and smashed its glass.”

Shortly after on the same day, he went to Callan Pharmacy on Main Street, Kingscourt, and stole a Nuxe Sun Factor 50 tanning oil valued at €25.

When he was arrested and was being conveyed to a local garda station, McCullough urinated in the back of the garda van.

Then, on September 4, at McCarren’s shop on Farnham Road, Cavan, McCullough picked up a sandwich, valued at €4, but made no attempt to pay for it.

On the same day, gardaí received a call about a male who was “very drunk and unsafe to himself” in Cavan Town. McCullough had entered Dunnes Stores on Main Street, Cavan, where he threw clothes about the store including socks valued at €10, shirts worth €97, a €20 pair of shoes, trousers at €30, a jacket, belt, hat, accessories and trainers.

Sgt Galligan said the value of damage to the pharmacy door was €400 and the total amount of damaged Dunnes Stores stock was €225; while the cost of cleaning the garda van came to €100.

154 previous

When asked about Richard McCullough’s previous convictions, Sgt Galligan said he had 154 for mostly public order offences except for a firearms offence dating back to December 2024, for which, he received a two-and-a-half year suspended sentence at Cavan Circuit Court.

“Unfortunately, Mr McCullough is a well-known person to this court,” his barrister, Dimitry Grinberg said before asking the judge to accept that most of the offences were “caused by drink and drugs”.

“I can say that while he has been in custody for a number of months, he has been able to stay clean,” the barrister offered as mitigation.

“It’s complicated by a number of things including the disgusting act in the back of the van and the despicable act against the member of staff,” presiding Judge Raymond Finnegan said.

Convicting McCullough on most of the charges, Judge Finnegan sentenced the defendant to three months in prison for the criminal damage in Dunnes Stores, back-dated to when he was first brought into custody on September 5.

The judge also imposed a three-month sentence, consecutive to the first, for the criminal damage of the garda van and two more three-month terms for the criminal damage of the pharmacy door and for assaulting the member of pharmacy staff.

The two charges for the theft of a sandwich and a bottle of tanning oil and one for being intoxicated in a public place were taken into consideration.

Sentencing Richard McCullough to a total of 12 months in prison, back-dated to September 5, Judge Finnegan said: “Hopefully Mr McCullough will use that time to think about what he did.”

McCullough was also remanded on bail to appear at Cavan Circuit Court on February 2 as a result of his latest convictions, which could ‘trigger’ a suspended sentence handed down to him by the higher court in December 2024.