Man broke into Portlaoise Garda Station

A man was arrested moments after ‘breaking into the Garda Station’ in Portlaoise. 

Liam Carroll, 37, of Whitehouse Pub B&B care of Dunkerrin Arms, Roscrea, Co Tipperary admitted trespassing at Portlaoise Garda Station on October 10, 2023.

Garda Sergeant JJ Kirby said the defendant was observed entering through a secure station  door immediately after a garda had exited. He said the man made his way upstairs before being stopped by Gardai. 

“Breaking into the Garda Station?” asked Judge Andrew Cody. 

Sgt Kirby confirmed that the man had been witnessed entering the station at around 9am on the morning in question. He said the defendant had 65 previous convictions between 2003 and 2016 but had turned his life around in recent years and he described the incident as ‘a slip’.

Ciara Murphy BL said her client was homeless for a long time but was now living in a homeless shelter in Dunkerrin. 

She said he was now seeing a drug counsellor and was taking methadone. She asked the judge to take his guilty plea into account. 

“There was a long gap between the last previous and this one,” she told the sitting of Portlaoise District Court. 

Judge Andrew Cody convicted the defendant and sentenced him to one month suspended for two years.