Justice system - Vulnerable people are most at risk

THE bizarre tale of a man who was incarcerated because he failed to pay a €12 dog licence is a damning comment on the inconsistencies of the court system.

Unskilled and long-term unemployed David Gartlan was summoned to appear in court by Louth County Council but failed to turn up and was fined €250. He ended up in Mountjoy, the country’s toughest jail, where he spent four days before being transferred to Shelton Abbey, an open prison in Co Wicklow.

It is shocking that nobody intervened before that happened. Surely a solution could have been worked out between the courts, the gardaí and the social services.