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A 34-year-old Cork man was jailed for breaking headstones at Kilcully Cemetery in Cork after a lengthy investigation.
Garda Jamie O’Riordan arrested William O’Driscoll without a fixed address and charged him with causing criminal damage to three headstones between late November 2019 and early January this year.
While O’Driscoll was charged with criminally damaging three family headstones at St Catherine’s Cemetery in Kilcully, County Cork, up to 20 headstones were damaged over the course of several months.
Defense attorney Donal Daly said O’Driscoll pleaded guilty to all three counts and apologized unreservedly for the distress caused to the families of those with loved ones in the affected parcels.
Mr. Daly highlighted a history of serious mental health problems in William O’Driscoll’s background.
Garda O’Riordan agreed with this and confirmed that the defendant had serious psychiatric problems.
The defendant apologized, said he could not explain his actions, but said it should not have happened and that he was never intended to cause any distress or harm to any family.
The defendant was admitted to a psychiatric hospital for eight days after these crimes.
Garda O’Riordan also claimed that at a time when one of the parties affected by the damage to the tombstones learned of O’Driscoll’s involvement, the defendant was the victim of serious assault.
The investigating garda said that without the defendant’s cooperation it would have been difficult to prosecute him.
Judge Olann Kelleher was told that the man had a severe mental breakdown at the time of these crimes. O’Driscoll would walk from Cork City to visit a family grave in the cemetery on many occasions around this time, often in cold and very humid weather.
The nature of the damage was that statues or figures attached to the headstones were toppled and the headstones themselves were toppled in some cases.
Judge Kelleher imposed a four-month prison sentence on O’Driscoll in Cork District Court. It will be executed at the same time that the accused fulfills another sentence.
O’Driscoll pleaded guilty in his first court appearance in this case to all three counts of intentionally or recklessly causing criminal damage to the tombstones between November 30, 2019 and January 3 of this year.
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