A solicitor has described as “an utter disgrace” that a 41-year-old man suffering from psychosis is in prison and not in a hospital where he could be treated. Maurice Regan was speaking in a case in which Bartosz Golonka, with an address at Cluain Ri, Ashbourne appeared at Trim District Court charged with assault on two elderly men in Ashbourne on 11th March last year and with public disorder at a Garda station. The defendant has been in custody since last year and Regan has previously told the court that his client needs treatment for psychosis and should not be in a prison setting.
Unprovoked Assaults
The court was told that Garda Ulrika McKenzie had reported unprovoked assaults on two elderly men in Ashbourne. The defendant was found “in an agitated state” and was arrested. It had also heard that defendant had arrived at the station in the company of a taxi driver and had become abusive and aggressive. He had attempted to strike Sergeant Doyle through the hatch of the public office.
Victim impact statements from the two men aged between 70 and 80 were read. One man said that he had had a heart operation and was now afraid to go down the main street, especially at night. The other victim said he was very shocked by the assault and never expected it to happen. He was now avoiding the main street and added “I will never forget this”.
Broke Doctors Jaw
The defendant has 21 previous convictions, mainly for road traffic offences but no assaults. Mr Regan said that his client was “clearly unwell”. The solicitor quoted from an assessment by psychiatrist Professor Patricia Casey stating that the man should be transferred to the Central
Mental Hospital “without delay”. Mr Regan said his client had been in custody since July last. He sometimes went off his medication and would become psychotic. At one stage when he was in custody in a Garda station and being examined by a doctor He struck the doctor and broke his jaw. He said, “I think it is a disgrace that he is in prison when he should be in hospital. I believe there are 60 new beds in the CMH but there are no staff to service them.
Judge Eirinn McKiernan said the assaults on the two elderly men were “very serious” and put the case back to 19th May for finalisation. She also offered to write a letter about the case to the Central Mental Hospital.
