Could not remember being arrested for public order offence
A MAN who told Carlow District Court that he could not remember being arrested for public intoxication was told by Judge Andrew McCarthy that he did not believe he was engaging with the court honestly.
Mecislavs Obrazcovs, 25 Shraughan Close, Tullow represented himself and addressed the court through a Russian interpreter.
At the outset, Judge McCarthy asked the defendant: “Do you know what the alleged offence is?” “He doesn’t remember,” the interpreter replied.
The judge outlined the charge, telling him: “On 10 February 2024 in Tullow, you were intoxicated to such an extent that you were a danger to yourself.” Mr Obrazcovs (70) responded: “I had just recently lost my friend in Ukraine, so that's why I was like that and I was just walking home.” When the judge asked whether he remembered being arrested, the interpreter told the court: “He still doesn’t remember.” “He just said he was walking home after losing a friend,” the judge remarked.
The interpreter explained: “He just remembers the moment he was told about his friend but doesn’t remember afterwards.” Asked why he could not remember, the defendant said it was because the incident had happened two years ago.
“You were born in 1956. With the greatest respect, you are not that old,” Judge McCarthy said, before asking the interpreter whether the defendant had any memory loss or diagnoses he should bring to the court’s attention.
“I was six times in the hospital, I don’t remember what they wrote about me,” said Mr Obrazcovs. Questioned further, he said through the interpreter that he had been in hospital “with his stomach and head.” “I’m not at all happy with what you’re saying to the court. I don’t believe you’re engaging with the court in an honest manner,” the judge told him.
Mr Obrazcovs then asked, in effect, whether the judge wanted him to plead guilty. “It’s not for me, it’s for this gentleman to do,” Judge McCarthy replied, after which the interpreter told the court: “He pleads guilty.” The court heard that at midnight on 10 February 2024, gardaí attended Shroughan Close in Tullow, where they observed the defendant in an intoxicated state. Believing he was a danger to himself, they arrested him for his own safety.
The judge asked state presenter Insp Conor Nolan whether it was a “low level section 4 offence” and Insp Nolan agreed, adding: “He wasn’t a danger to others.” The court heard that Mr Obrazcovs has 11 previous convictions, including two for drink-driving, two for public intoxication under section 4 of the Public Order Act and seven for theft.
His most recent public order conviction was at Carlow District Court in April 2025, when he was fined €200. His most recent conviction overall was at Carlow Circuit Court in March, where he was convicted of theft and sentenced to four months in prison.
Judge McCarthy noted that Mr Obrazcovs was “of some poor health” and had not been a danger to others on the night in question, but said he also had to take his previous convictions into account.
Mr Obrazcovs was convicted and fined €200.
