Olivia Kelleher
A drunk man thought he was being a "Good Samaritan" when he decided to push a woman in a wheelchair around the streets of Cork city and in to a shop where she managed to get help after she typed out a message to staff on her phone.
Cork District Court heard that Pavels Saveljevs became verbally aggressive with the men in the shop who assisted the woman after she typed up a cry for help.
Judge Olann Kelleher was told that gardaí were called to the scene of the incident in the Douglas Street area of Cork at around 10pm on January 13th of this year.
Sgt John Kelleher said the lady in a wheelchair had been approached by a man who pushed her wheelchair along, making her feel very uncomfortable.
The woman said in her statement that she was approached by a man she did not know.
She said: ‘He aggressively pushed my chair across the road. He asked me what I was doing and I said I was getting my stuff for my lunch (the following day). He asked where I was going. I said Aldi. He said Aldi would be closed. I asked him to leave me alone, He replied, no."
The woman, whose age wasn't disclosed, said that the man kept pushing her around in her wheelchair.
Local shop
She managed to get away from him and in to a local shop where he again appeared.
The woman was afraid and hesitated about telling the shop worker about what was going on with the man.
She decided to type out a text on her phone which she handed to the cashier. It read: “He followed me to the shop.”
The employee and two men who were present rushed to the assistance of the woman when they became aware of her predicament.
The court heard that Mr Saveljevs, who is in his 30s, became abusive to the men.
Guilty plea
Saveljevs pleaded guilty to being intoxicated to such an extent that he was a source of danger and to engaging in threatening behaviour.
Defence solicitor Joseph Cuddigan said his client in his drunken state thought that he was being a "Good Samaritan".
However, Mr Cuddigan said clearly that this was not how his actions were perceived by the injured party.
Judge Kelleher remarked that the woman was "so afraid she had to type up a message so that he would not hear her."
Sentencing was adjourned until July 7th to allow the defendant, who has an address at the Simon Community, to take up residential treatment for alcohol abuse.
He is currently abstaining from alcohol and is on a path to recovery.
