A 32-year-old man who sprayed graffiti on a parochial house in north Louth has been sentenced to four months imprisonment.
James McArdle, Villa Isis, Dulargy, Ravensdale, Dundalk, appeared at the district court via video link.
He pleaded guilty to entering the curtilage of the parochial house in Ravensdale on January 14 last and damaging the exterior wall of the parochial house with paint.
Court presenter Sgt Richie Browne said gardaí had received a report of Mr McArdle entering the grounds of the property.
He was caught on CCTV footage walking up the laneway and spraying graffiti on the wall.
The defendant was known to the injured party. He was wearing the same clothing as in the footage when gardaí searched his home.
There was no Victim Impact Statement.
Sgt Browne said that Mr McArdle has a number of previous convictions, including two in this jurisdiction from 2016 for failing to produce insurance and driving without a driving licence, while he described previous convictions in Australia as quite significant.
Judge Nicola Andrews remarked, “They are arson”, as she recalled hearing evidence in relation to those in a bail application for a separate previous matter, which Sgt Browne said was withdrawn by the State.
The court heard that he had been convicted in Melbourne Magistrates Court in August 2023 of burglary, criminal damage by fire, theft of two motor vehicles and two counts of unlawful assault for which he was sentenced to a total of 7 months and 28 days, with 228 days spent in custody taken into consideration.
Barrister Niall Mackin submitted his client had alcohol in his system on the night in question.
He had been feeling stressed and anxious over Christmas, and has been in custody since January 16.
The defendant got a job bricklaying before he went into custody and hoped to take it up when released from jail.
He has an eight-week-old child and wants to be a substantial father figure. Becoming a father had “changed his perspective”.
Judge Andrews imposed a six-month sentence, the final two months suspended for 24 months, and remanded him in custody until February 11 to appear in person to sign a bond to be of good behaviour during that period.