A Letterkenny man has been ordered to bring a bus time-table to court to prove he knows how to find his way to his next court case.
Shane Valentine appearing at Letterkenny District Court. Pic by Northwest Newspix.
Shane Valentine was arrested by Gardai after failing to make court appointments in both Drogheda and Swords.
Valentine, 21, had been the subject of 17 different bench warrants.
He appeared before Judge Conal Gibbons at Letterkenny District Court after being arrested by local Gardai.
Judge Gibbons asked the accused why he had not turned up for his court appearances and he replied that he did not know "there was a bus to Drogheda."
Valentine, of 17A Sylvan Park, Letterkenny, is also charged with a public order offence at Letterkenny General Hospital.
He also told the Judge he had not made himself known to gardaí in Letterkenny because he only “goes to town two days a week” and chooses a route that does not pass the garda station.
Gardai had objected to bail on a number of grounds.
But Judge Gibbons granted bail on strict conditions and said Valentine’s excuses for not appearing in court were “ludicrous”.
Valentine explained that he was now living with his pregnant girlfriend and feared being put in jail if he turned up in court.
“I was afraid to go back to court in case I get locked up and lose everything I have with that girl,” he said.
Adjourning the case to August 13th he ordered him to “bring me in a bus timetable and show how you have worked out how to get to Drogheda and how to get to Swords. I want you to talk some sense to me instead of that ludicrous story.”