Man who smashed hotel window ‘had hallucination’

A BALLISODARE man who smashed a window to try to get into the Southern Hotel in Sligo because he thought some men were following him has been given the Probation Act at the district court. Thirty-seven-year-old Martin Murtagh, Kilboglashy, Ballisodare, pleaded guilty to entering the Southern Hotel , Knappagh Road, as a trespasser and causing criminal damage on April 24 last year.

Sergeant Derek Butler told the court that gardaí got a report of a man breaking a window in the hotel and he was later found in a bedroom when officers arrived. The defendant told them he was scared as he was followed by three people. He had no relevant recent conviction.

CCTV showed that there was nobody following the defendant at the time.

Defence solicitor Tom

MacSharry said the defendant had €570 in compensation to pay for the window.

Sergeant Butler told the court that the manager of the hotel found the defendant lying on the floor, his hand was covered in blood and he co-operated fully with gardaí.

When interviewed by gardaí, he said he broke the window because men “were chasing me and I thought I was going to be shot.”

The court head the defendant was the father of four young children and he had been taking medication for a mental health condition and alcohol at the time of the incident.

He was very apologetic to the hotel staff.

The defendant said that “in my own head” he thought people were following him”. He said he was not drinking and was taking his medication. The defendant said he had been drinking on the night of the incident as it was the anniversary of the tragic deaths of two of his friends in a fire in Sligo.

Judge Kevin Kilrane said he would treat this case differently to the normal criminal damage and trespass matters as the defendant has mental health issues, was on medication and he went on the drink.

This produced a hallucination, and the defendant did not have a great recollection of events.

The judge said he was satisfied that anyone who went through the window in such a fashion was not in his right mind at the time. Luckily, he did not kill himself – had he severed an artery, he “might not be with us today”. The judge said there was no pre-meditation in the criminal damage as he applied the Probation Act on the trespass charge as well.