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23 Oct 2025
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23 Oct 2025
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Judge Seamus Hughes handed down a suspended prison sentence and a hefty fine to a man last week convicted of driving while disqualified and being drunk behind the wheel of a car
A teenager who was found by probation services to be “aggressive and argumentative” to his parents has been told he will be “walking the corridors of the Midlands Prison” unless he changes his ways.
Andrew Beaumont (18) Carrickobrien, Athlone, Co Westmeath was given the stern warning after a probation report was handed into court last week which returned what Judge Hughes described as “very disappointing” results.
His solicitor said the report had suggested allowing Mr Beaumont time to “see how he got on”, a directive which hadn’t returned a positive outcome.
“He didn’t get on very well,” said the teenager’s solicitor.
That came on foot of a number of road traffic charges, including no insurance and of being found at the wheel without a license at Main Street, Ballymahon, Co Longford on April 4, 2019.
In noting his concern at the report’s finding, Judge Seamus Hughes asked if Mr Beaumont had been listening to what he had said.
“Yeah,” came the response from the accused, as he stood beside his solicitor.
Judge Hughes, in remarking that the defendant had come to court without his mother and father, said in hindsight it was probably a sound choice.
“It’s just as well as you seem to be the bane of your parents’ life,” he told him, as he read out snippets of the report to the 18-year-old.
He remarked how probation officers had found Mr Beaumont, despite having the “love and support of his parents, comes and goes as he pleases” and was someone who was “aggressive and argumentative” in the home.
It was during those exchanges that the court was told how a €9,000 drug debt amassed by Mr Beaumont had been settled by his parents.
Asked why he hadn’t taken on the responsibility himself, Mr Beaumont simply replied: “No income.”
It was a response which induced a sharp and terse riposte from Judge Hughes who said Mr Beaumont was “not at home now” as he cautioned him of the potential consequences coming down the line.
“I want your parents in court,” he told him.
“As far as I am concerned, if you don’t change your ways you will be shipped out.”
He went on and said should Mr Beaumont continue down the path he appeared to be headed he would be “walking the corridors” of the Midlands Prison.
“The Probation Services have washed the hands of you, so it has to be hammered into you,” he added.
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