West Cork grandmother put on daytime curfew for failing to wear mask in coffee shop

Margaret Buttimer, 66, was on bail when she visited Jakes restaurant in Bandon on Wednesday morning, just two days after Bandon District Court had deferred penalty following a similar recent incident

On Monday, Margaret Buttimer, 66, of The Cottage, St Fintan's Road, Bandon, Co Cork, appeared in court in connection with failing to wear a mask in SuperValu Shopping Centre in the town on October 21 last. File picture: Larry Cummins

A pensioner has been placed on what is effectively a daytime curfew after she was arrested for not wearing a mask in a coffee shop just two days after appearing before a court for a similar offence.

Margaret Buttimer was on bail when she visited Jakes restaurant in Bandon on Wednesday morning, just two days after Bandon District Court had deferred penalty following a similar recent incident.

Last Monday, Ms Buttimer, 66, of The Cottage, St Fintan's Road, Bandon, Co Cork, appeared in court in connection with failing to wear a mask in SuperValu Shopping Centre in the town on October 21 last. She did not admit the offence but her solicitor, Plunkett Taaffe, told Judge James McNulty she was also not contesting the evidence.

Also last Monday, the court heard Ms Buttimer's partner was becoming increasingly concerned about her becoming “forgetful and doing unusual things”. 

Penalty was deferred until December 16, with an MRI scan to be carried out. The court heard this took place on Monday evening and the results must be analysed.

On Thursday, the court heard she had been arrested after arriving into Jakes Restaurant without a mask. She was then brought before Macroom District Court and remanded in custody to appear on Thursday.

A condition of her release on Monday was that she stay away from retail outlets in Bandon. Mr Taaffe said his client's partner was "literally minding her 24/7" and had stepped out to get some shopping when Ms Buttimer attended the coffee shop.

Mr Taaffe said Ms Buttimer's partner was not able to get more help from extended family and that a group who had "latched onto her, rather than the other way around" were now gone.

Judge McNulty commented that Ms Buttimer otherwise presented as a very pleasant woman but she was placing herself and others at risk at a time of rising transmission of Covid-19, with frontline retail and hospital workers among those vulnerable.

The judge also referred to Ms Buttimer's elderly mother, who lives nearby, as also being vulnerable to the virus, alongside Ms Buttimer's assertion she will not get vaccinated – something she reiterated in court.

The judge said other countries such as Austria were now introducing measures to protect society against transmission, which effectively restricted the movements of those who were not vaccinated and said: "It may be that we have to adopt the Austria model here and ensure that Margaret stays home."

Granting legal aid, he said he would not revisit the penalty for Ms Buttimer's conviction last Monday – her seventh conviction for breaching the Covid-19 regulations – but said Ms Buttimer already had a suspended sentence hanging over her and that the judge who imposed that would be back in West Cork for a number of days soon and if she reoffended he would be familiar with her case and could activate that suspended sentence.

Accepting a bail surety from Ms Buttimer's partner of €500, Judge McNulty released Ms Buttimer to appear before the court on December 16 on conditions that include she stay at home – apart from visiting her mother and for exercise, when she is to be accompanied by her partner, adult relative or trusted friend – from 9am to 9pm daily.

She is also to stay away from retail and other outlets where the public gather, including post offices and chapels, until her trial on this latest alleged breach of Covid regulations. Gardaí have liberty to re-enter the matter at 24 hours' notice in the event of any alleged offending.