‘Brutally honest’ teen jailed after refusing probation service’s help

A troubled teenager who was never in prison before ended up there because he refused to take up the help of the probation service and wanted to go to jail.

Judge Olann Kelleher imposed six months imprisonment on Aran Shanahan with the last three months of the sentence suspended.

It was imposed in respect of a litany of crimes in the Ballincollig area.

Emmet Boyle, defending, said that the teenager wanted everything dealt with yesterday.

On release, he will have three months in jail hanging over him and a condition of that suspension is that he must report to the probation service.

Last week at Cork District Court, the 19-year-old of 129 Pine Walk, Muskerry Estate, Ballincollig, effectively said he would not stop causing trouble unless he was jailed. He was described as running amok and causing difficulties for local residents by creating drunken disturbances and breaking windows in houses.

Detective Garda Donal O’Connell said of Mr Shanahan: “I have never seen anyone more brutally honest.”

He has no previous convictions, but six months ago he said he had gone off the rails and now has multiple charges against him, not least for causing criminal damage to houses.

Judge Olann Kelleher had described an inner goodness in the young man when sober but also noted that he was running amok causing mayhem for residents when intoxicated.

The detective said last week: “He is being brutally honest. If he leaves court today and speaks to a probation officer he said he would be back on drugs later and in trouble in Ballincollig tonight. He said if he left Ballincollig he would have nowhere to stay except a hostel and he believes he would have even more access to drugs. He says the only chance he has of getting off drugs is to go to prison.”

The judge said he did not want to send Shanahan to prison but had no option but to do so.