Waterford court orders time served for mother caught with machete
The categorisation of the item as a machete was disputed, with the defendant's solicitor describing it as a “souvenir-style sword”.
A woman, who was caught carrying a 27-inch machete on Cannon Street, has been given a two-month backdated prison sentence at Waterford District Court.
Kathleen Keenan (33), of Connolly Place, Waterford, was before Judge Kevin Staunton charged with possession of the machete on Cannon Street, on August 3, 2024 and a theft charge.
Sergeant John Phelan told the court that gardaí, while on patrol, observed Ms Keenan with a “sword-like” item in her right hand.
When they approached her, she attempted to hide it.
The court was told that the defendant had 15 previous convictions, 14 of which were for theft and one for a public order offence.
Acting for the defendant, solicitor Ken Cunningham told the court that the process of her arrest had been an ordeal in and of itself.
He said his client had been arrested on August 4, 2024, and was refused bail “much to the horror of Ms Keenan, who has two small children.”
Her appeal for bail went to the High Court, but because of a long list of cases and the reduction in the number of sittings, Ms Keenan could not take up bail until October 8, 2024.
This meant she had been in custody since her arrest.
The conditions of her bail were that she reside at an address on the Youghal Road in Dungarvan and sign on at the garda station every day.
This has caused some strain with her partner and children.
“She has effectively been on house arrest since then,” said Mr Cunningham.
Mr Cunningham also disputed the categorisation of the item as a machete, but rather it was a “souvenir-style sword”.
He said that despite all of this, his client was doing well.
Mr Cunningham said his client was told by another court that if she came to face these charges with €150 in compensation for other theft offences, “the court would look favourably on Ms Keenan”.
Ms Keenan had that sum of money with her at this sitting.
He said the machete incident was a “life-changing moment” for his client, who had a drug problem, and due to poor decision-making in the company she kept, “a serious amount of trouble came to her door”.
But the time she spent in Dochas had a significant “impact on her outlook”.
Judge Staunton said to split the fines to accommodate the €150 compensation would be an “administrative nightmare”.
Mr Cunningham suggested instead that it be considered a donation to the court poor box.
The judge agreed to this and said that if Ms Keenan paid the money before the end of the sitting, he would strike out the theft charges.
Ms Keenan did so, and her theft charge for Tesco Ardkeen was struck out.
On the matter of the machete, Judge Staunton imposed a two-month prison sentence effective from when the defendant went into custody.
“That effectively means it's time served,” said Judge Staunton.
The judge took everything else into consideration and made a destruction order for the machete.
“You have done very well, Ms Keenan, and I wish you well,” said Judge Staunton.
