Athlone judge crafts a sketchy sentence for artist!

A young artist, who stole shotguns and whiskey from a house in Ballycumber, has been ordered to create a portrait of a courtroom, judge and solicitors as punishment. Outspoken Athlone judge Seamus Hughes handed down the novel sentence to Keith Hand (21) of Clonminch, Tullamore, at Wednesday's sitting of Athlone District Court. During the case, Judge Hughes was shown a portfolio of the defendant's artwork, which he deemed "quite excellent." Stating that he was known for occasionally coming up with unusual punishments, the judge said he wanted Mr Hand to "do an artist's sketch of the courtroom, focusing in particular on the practitioners of the court." He wanted Mr Hand to "work hard at this" and expected it to be done in time for the December 19 sitting of the court. "It can be a Christmas present" for those working at the court, he said. Outlining the facts of the case, Inspector Aidan Minnock said the injured party, Brendan Scully, was returning home from a meeting at 11.55pm on February 2 last. When he arrived at 17 Twickenham, Ballycumber, he found its glass porch had been broken and its door was unlocked. Mr Hand had broken in to steal two vintage shotguns, shotgun shells, a fishing rod, two bottles of whiskey, and a bodhran. The defendant had been staying with his girlfriend, Maria Daly, who was renting a house next door, 18 Twickenham, which was also owned by Mr Scully. "She had gone to bed, he was downstairs and he went next door and took these items," said Inspector Minnock, remarking that it was "quite an unusual case". The stolen property was later recovered, the court was told Mr Hand had no previous convictions. His solicitor, Brian O'Brien, said his client had attended college and worked part-time as a waiter for a period but suffered from depression. It was his intention to return to college next September to become qualified as an artist, the solicitor said. Mr O'Brien had the defendant's art portfolio in court and showed the judge a series of impressive portraits. The judge was also told that Mr Hand has previously paid €30 towards the broken glass pane, and brought a further €200 with him to court. Judge Hughes then delivered his artistic sentence. "I often see in serious murder trials that they don't allow photographers in court but have sketch artists instead. I want this man to do an artist's sketch of the courtroom, focusing in particular on the practitioners of the court." "I think it would be nice to have a portrait of this kind, because the practice of the court might be quite different in 10 or 20 years' time." Mr Hand said the process would take some time, as it had taken him about 10 hours to complete each of the pieces that were in his art portfolio. "I can give you 240 hours if you like," said the judge, referring to the maximum term of community service which is sometimes given to defendants. "I think this (theft) was a spur-of-the-moment, stupid decision that you made." He said he would not be surprised if the case made banner headlines in "The Sun, The Daily Mail, and those other papers that I don't read," but all he was seeking to do was to get the defendant to use his talents. "He strikes me as a good, young, decent man and I think this was out of character for him," stated the judge. He set a deadline of December 19 for the completion of the artwork. Judge Hughes has handed out a number of unconventional sentences in recent years. In October 2011, a Ferbane youth who spat at a Garda squad car was ordered to wash the squad car once a week for a six month period. Also in 2011, two men who came before him on different charges were instructed to save turf and deliver it to the Society of St Vincent De Paul as punishment for their misdeeds. In 2010, Judge Hughes attracted national media attention because of a novel punishment he handed out in Donegal. A man who called a Garda a "Mayo w**ker" was ordered by the judge to climb Croagh Patrick as a mark of respect for his fellow Irish people, especially those in the line of duty.