A judge has jailed a ‘town pariah’ after he was found by a Garda in a state of undress in his parked car and 66 times over the legal driving limit for cocaine.
At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Francis Comerford has jailed Shane McCarthy (31) of Shanballa, Lahinch Rd, Ennis for three months after hearing that Mr McCarthy reached for a bag of cocaine in his parked car at Magowna, Inch outside Ennis on March 30th 2025 and snorted in the presence of a Garda.
At the district court in February of this year, Judge Alec Gabbett jailed Mr McCarthy for four months for the offences and Mr McCarthy has remained on bail pending his appeal against the severity of the sentence only to the circuit court.
Now, at the circuit court, Judge Comerford said that he must affirm the order for imprisonment made in the district court but reduced the jail term by one month to three months. Mr McCarthy did not appeal a four driving ban.
Judge Comerford said that he accepted that cocaine consumption is the cause of Mr McCarthy’s offending and on the day concerned he had consumed ‘large quantities’ and posed a danger to other road users.
State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey told the court that Mr McCarthy was found in a state of undress at his parked car at Magowna outside Ennis by a Garda and the Garda witnessed Mr McCarthy reach for a small packet of white power and snort the contents of up his nose.
In the case, married father of three, Mr McCarthy pleaded guilty to the ‘drug’ road traffic charge where the reading showed that the concentration of Benzoylecgonine (cocaine) in his blood was at 3,346 ng/ml on March 30th 2025.
Ms Casey said that this was 66 times the legal driving limit for cocaine.
Mr McCarthy is currently awaiting sentence before the district court after entering guilty pleas to sending lewd images of himself to his counsellor last year and masturbating in public places around Ennis.
In reference to the matters before the district court, solicitor for Mr McCarthy, Daragh Hassett told Judge Comerford that Mr McCarthy “is a pariah in many ways in his own town because of his behaviour and he has brought that on himself”.
Mr Hassett said that the root of Mr McCarthy’s offending was his addiction to cocaine.
Mr Hassett said that at the height of his cocaine taking, Mr McCarthy was consuming 30 grams of cocaine a day and it completely disinhibited him in a sexual way where he masturbated in public.
Mr McCarthy’s latest sex offences while on bail occurred on August 3rd while on bail when he engaged in offensive conduct of a sexual nature at two separate addresses at Lough Vella, Lahinch Rd, Ennis.
Mr Hassett said: “It is a most unusual way to behave and he has to deal with it. He accepts it is really serious. It is very embarrassing for everybody and yet he can’t explain why it happens.”
Mr Hassett said that Mr McCarthy “has been subject to odium in own community as a result and has been regularly taunted”.
The solicitor said that Mr McCarthy “has suffered in his own community, people now look down on him and have no difficulty shouting at him on the street”.
Mr Hassett said that Mr McCarthy, to address the harm caused to family, public and himself, has completed a residential treatment programme for his cocaine addiction in June but the wheels came off in August briefly when he re-offended.
Mr McCarthy’s wife was in court in support of him and Mr Hassett asked for a further adjournment in the case to allow Mr McCarthy return immediately to the treatment centre.
Mr Hassett said that it was a ‘big ask’ but stated that Mr McCarthy had made great progress during his first round of treatment at the treatment centre.
