Entertaining yet serious case

pretentiouslad

Hello all, I was looking for advice, so i read the charter, now I'm looking for opinions

Basically, a friend of mine, actually no, I'm due in court on the 28th on a charge of drunk and disorderly and i would like to get a few opinions out of yee fellow boardians :rolleyes:

The details: (this is probably one of the stupidest things ever, essentially i had a hardcore cheese craving) I was hammered, ordered curry cheese chips in a take away, got curry chips sans le fromage... so i disputed it saying that if there was no cheese then i'd like a refund because i hadn't ordered what i had recieved... (ridiculous i know, but as a consumer I had the right to do so)

The staff at the takeaway refused to give me a refund, i replied that i would not leave the premises until i got a refund, at which point the gardaí were called... They saw how drunk i was and took me in, but also slapped a court appearance on me for being an obnoxious little prick, which is fair enough...

So, I'd like some opinions on this, is it a wise thing to represent myself or should i go for legal aid here? I'm a student at a 3rd level university and I have no previous convictions or any previous dealings with the law at all, so I reckon i'll get the probation act 1994 and a fine, so I'm not too worried, but the whole thing is just really stupid, and it's the last time i'll drink whiskey! I apologised to the staff at the takeaway the following afternoon and they seemed happy! :rolleyes:

Oh, also I was there with a friend, he can vouch for everything i said, i was in no way abusive to the staff or the gardaí on the night!

I fought the law and the law won! :pac:

Please do not close this thread, i know it's not legal advice, i'm just looking to debate it really!

Bosco boy

Get a solicitor and deal with it the first day it comes up in court, if it's as you say you should be fine, either give up the drink or the takeaways if you ant to stay out of trouble!

Reloc8

pretentiouslad wrote: »

They saw how drunk i was and took me in, but also slapped a court appearance on me for being an obnoxious little prick, which is fair enough...

...
Oh, also I was there with a friend, he can vouch for everything i said, i was in no way abusive to the staff or the gardaí on the night!

Just having a difficulty reconciling the two statements

Anyway, s. 4 Criminal Justice Order (Public Order) Act 1994 - its an offence to be so drunk in a public place that you are a danger to yourself or others. Take it that it is an offence to be veryveryveryveryveryveryveryveryveryveryvery drunk.

You don't mention other charges but you might have a charge under s. 6 of the same Act charge - threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour in a public place causing a breach of the peace, or being reckless as to whether one is called. You may have other charges, I don't know.

Take it that it is more or less an offence to be an obnoxious little prick, in a public place.

Anyway, all that aside, what you do now is you go an talk to a solicitor, if you are in any way serious about fighting this.

If all you have is a s. 4 charge, and you are not fighting the case, you've made a good move in apologising to the staff. Next thing you do is pop down to the station and apologise there too. If the garda who is prosecuting you isn't there find out when they are back on duty and arrange to call in at that time. Then go to court and say you're very sorry & embarassed. You should be ok.

I presume you meant to refer to the Probation Act 1907. If you get the benefit of this there is no fine - you generally are asked to make some class of a charitable donation to a named charity. How much depends on the judge sitting.

drkpower

pretentiouslad wrote: »

So, I'd like some opinions on this, is it a wise thing to represent myself or should i go for legal aid here?

Given your story, it is desperately unwise for you to represent yourself.

nuac

1. See a solicitor

2. Apologise personally and in writing to the staff and owners of the establishment and to the Garda who dealt with you.

3. You cannot hold your drink. Judge may wonder about this - i.e intention to curb drinking.

4. Appear in court in best Sunday suit, proper haircut.

5. Assumng your solicitor knows the form of your local judge, take his/her advice.

Our man in Havana

You won't get legal aid as there is no chance you will go to prison.