Last chance to pay comp
TWO women convicted of assaulting a podium dancer in a local night club have been given one last chance by Judge Catherine Staines to compensate the injured party.
Louise McStay, of Pallas, Ballyfin Road, Portlaoise, and Shelly Delaney, of Carlow Road, Stradbally, were convicted of assault at Egans Nite Club, Portlaoise, on September 25, 2011.
At a previous court sitting, both women were each told to provide €300 compensation. When the women appeared back in court on October 4 and handed in the money, they were told to each provide an additional €300, to reimburse the injured party for her loss of earnings. Judge Staines also ordered them to write individual letters of apology.
At last week’s court, defence Ms Josephine Fitzpatrick said her clients had been unable to gather up the additional compensation. She said that one of her clients had since lost her job, while the other had to borrow the initial €300 and was still paying this back.
Judge Staines declared that she had given the women an opportunity to pay compensation and if they failed to do so, she would impose a fine instead. The judge also said that Delaney had handed in a letter of apology that was “not very qualified”.
Ms Fitzpatrick replied that such legal proceedings were all very new to her clients, as they had never been in this situation before.
“They got very good legal advice and didn’t follow it,” remarked Judge Staines.
The judge asked whether Delaney would reconsider the letter she had written, to which Ms Fitzpatrick said her client would welcome the chance.
Judge Staines ordered that McStay’s letter of apology be forwarded to the injured party and the matter was put back to February 7.
“I’m giving them one last chance,” she said.
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Thursday 23 May 2013
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