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CRANBERRIES SINGER DOLORES O’Riordan will not receive a criminal conviction arising from her ‘air rage’ offences at Shannon Airport in November of 2014.
At Ennis District Court today, Judge Patrick Durcan said that to criminalise Ms O’Riordan would not be just and would be unfair after concluding that she was suffering from “a severe mental illness” at the time of the incident.
Judge Durcan said after reading several medical reports in the case that the mental illness Ms O’Riordan was suffering from at the time “completely inhibited her judgement”.
He said the fact that Ms O’Riordan (44) could not remember any of the incident showed she was incapable of understanding or recording what she was doing at the time.
But he added that she was the perpetrator of serious assaults and of “appalling behaviour” during the incident.
Poor box
Judge Durcan said that if Ms O’Riordan paid €6,000 towards the court poor box he would not impose any criminal conviction, and adjourned the matter for one week.
Ms O’Riordan has an unblemished record, he said, and was not being treated differently to anyone else who came before the court on public order related charges.
Judge Durcan said that the money would go towards supporting prisoners exiting the prison system and trying to adapt to the outside world.
Speaking outside Ennis Courthouse after the sentencing, a relieved Ms O’Riordan said:
“I’m glad it’s over and I want to thank the doctors who helped me to get back my health mentally.
I’m feeling very good today, very positive about this upcoming year. I have a couple of albums coming out and I’m going to go back to work.
When asked about the stigma over mental illness and whether it was time people spoke and opened up more, Ms O’Riordan said ‘of course’ and urged people suffering similar problems to “just reach out for help”.
Air rage
In the case, Ms O’Riordan – with an address of Friarstown, Grange, Kilmallock – pleaded guilty to assaulting Garda Shane Dawson and two members of the Airport Police (Ronan O’Reilly and Eamon Power) at Shannon.
Ms O’Riordan pleaded guilty to resisting/wilfully obstructing Garda Dawson in the execution of his duty contrary to Section 19 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994.
In evidence heard in the case, the court heard that an out-of-control Dolores O’Riordan had shouted ‘I’m an icon, I’m the Queen of Limerick’ during the incident and that she had head-butted and spat in the face of one Garda.
Inspector Tom Kennedy told Ennis District Court that on 10 November 2014 the 44-year-old Cranberries singer also spat in the face of and kicked out at an Airport Police Officer (APO).
Inspector Kennedy said that Ms O’Riordan had become unruly on board a Shannon-bound Aer Lingus flight from JFK during which she stood on the foot of flight attendant, Carmel Coyne, and hurt her ankle severely.
Escapes from custody
After Ms O’Riordan was detained, upon the plane touching down, Inspector Kennedy said that Ms O’Riordan made two separate escapes from custody.
Relaying evidence from APO Ronan O’Reilly, Inspector Kennedy said that upon touching down, Ms O’Riordan “became very difficult towards him and went to hit him in the face, but missed.
He is quite tall. She was able to hit in the shoulder, and kicked him in the waist area.
In one incident, Inspector Kennedy said that the 44-year-old mother-of-three told Garda Dawson:
You can’t arrest me. I’m an icon. I’m the Queen of Limerick. You don’t know who you are dealing with. I pay my taxes so I pay your wages and I am going to sue you.
Inspector Kennedy said: “Ms O’Riordan was quite irrational, quite aggressive, quite difficult.”
Mitigation pleas
In his plea of mitigation, solicitor for Ms O’Riordan Bill O’Donnell said that “these were the actions of a very, very ill person”.
Clearly from the evidence, she was somewhat out of control.
Mr O’Donnell said:
“Ms O’Riordan was going through a very, very difficult time having recently separated from her husband of 20 years.
She moved to New York City and hadn’t seen her children, aged 18, 14 and 10 for two months who live in Canada and she was living out of a suitcase in New York City.
He told the court: “She was quite unwell during this period arising from the devastating effect from the break up of her marriage and not seeing her children.”
Mr O’Donnell said that Ms O”Riordan was returning to Ireland for the second anniversary of her father’s death.
This was a very emotional time for my client and she was not in a good place.
Mr O’Donnell said:
All her actions were reactionary and she did not deliberately set out to cause any harm or cause any assault. She genuinely felt she was under attack; that she was under siege.
He added that a medic on the day concluded Ms O’Riordan was unfit for Garda questioning.
Reports
A separate psychiatric report found that Ms O’Riordan “looked exhausted, had poor insight into her altered mental state and the incident on the plane took place while she was quite unwell and this was caused by bi-polar disorder”. The singer was shortly afterwards admitted to St Patrick’s Psychiatric Hospital and remained there for three weeks.
Mr O’Donnell said that there was no intention by Mr O’Riordan to commit the actions on the day and she didn’t remember what fully occurred.
He said that she had no previous convictions, had travelled around the world with her career since she was 18 and had never had an incident on a plane before November 2014.
Her solicitor also said his client apologised unreservedly for her actions and was “very remorseful about all of this and embarrassed over what has occurred”.
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but but but Poots took legal advice …… god save us
@Jim Buckley Barrett: Did you hear who he took that advice from? I’m not even kidding here, Jamie effing Bryson. The loyalist headbanger. .
@Pete Gilmartin: the Poundshop Lawyer, mar a deir Colum Eastwood. The absolute catastrophe that is the leadership of far-right Unionism, is like an elixer of youth for me today, its like drinking pure happiness. Can’t wait for this Assembly election now.
@Pete Gilmartin: Are you serious? Bryson hasn’t even passed the bar.
@Pete Gilmartin: Had to go and Google that… Seems you were kidding, Poots got his legal advice from John Larkin the former Attorney General in the North.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: Yep, but Bryson claimed in a radio interview he gave it. Anything to try to make himself relevant.
@Isa: That’s it, he’d say mass…
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: No Kidding – Bryson is claiming in todays Belfast Telegraph that he had been advising Poots and the DUP with all the legal implications of the Protocol for months.
Poots said yesterday that he also received legal opinion from John Larkin but didnt clarify what that opinion was and which opinion he eventually went on before acting. Mind you, I dont think the DUP was ever in the business of taking advice from anyone.
@Angela McCarthy: that’s a scurrilous remark ! DUP take advice from Doctor No.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: Bryson never passed a bar in his life, especially when Edwin in buying.
If this judicial review shows that Edwin Poots broke the law then he should suffer the consequences of his actions.
@Joe Johnson: while I agree in principle, he can say it was based on legal advice and legal advice often differs, even though what he was trying to do was a wrecking tactic, it’s probably not criminal. In any case, he hasn’t managed to be selected by his party to run in the now consequent election, so his punishment will be to live on in ignominy as one of the most incompetent politicians in the history of Ireland or Britain. And probably the World.
Playing bigoted politics to get what you what to the detriment of workers across the whole island should not be allowed happen, he somehow needs to be sanctioned
You couldn’t write what’s happening in the UK at present. Brexit is a disaster and will have long lasting negative ramifications. Throw in the DUP and Borris and the asylum starts rocking to ABBA….
There’s no one driving the red bus these days, they’re all partying down the back.
@Kevin Conway: I quote Professor Anton Muscatelli principal and vice chancellor at the University of Glasgow from 2018.
“the most unhinged example of national self-sabotage in living memory.”
I think the legal opinion that Poots received must have been given to him at an Orange Lodge, or in a pub.
@Angela McCarthy: The News Letter says he got it from John Larkin the former Attorney General in the North.
@FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: Jamie Bryson is claiming credit for it on Twitter
@James Beattie: Forgive me for not believing Mr. Bryson.
Here it is for all unionist supporters to see, the UK government does care about Northern Ireland or even consider it as part of the union. Serious questions need to be asked by the people of NI, and in particular the six counties, if they see themselves as been part of the UK moving forward, with the likes of the DUP.
@Michael: I presume you meant to say – ” does not care” in which case I agree with you 100%
@David Abbott: yes.
@David Abbott: correct.
Well that’s embarrassing…
That’ll poots him in his place
Better call Saul…..
Pussin Poots
The Befast High Court did’nt give two hoots for Edwin Poots.
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