Man ‘destroyed apartment in blood’ and spat in Garda cell

A man who pleaded guilty to €500 worth of criminal damage to an apartment, as well as incurring a €100 cleanup cost for repeatedly spitting on the door of a Garda cell, has been jailed for a total of nine months.

Nathan Devaney (30), formerly of River Village, Monksland, Athlone, Co Roscommon, now of no fixed abode in Athlone, appeared before Judge Bernadette Owens at a sitting of Athlone District Court where he said: “I plead guilty to everything”.

Sergeant Sheila Kenny outlined to the court how, on January 8, 2026, at 11.05pm, Gardaí received reports of a disturbance at an O’Connell Street apartment.

When Gardai arrived at the property, they observed a male, shouting, “with blood all over the door”. They then discovered “he’d destroyed the apartment in blood”.

There were altercations with Gardaí, the court heard, and force was used to effect arrest. When he was detained in Athlone Garda Station, he “continuously spat on the cell door”.

Mr Devaney, who has 100 previous convictions, and is currently serving a three-month prison sentence for theft, also pleaded guilty to a number of theft charges.

Those charges include stealing €60 worth of alcohol from the Grove Filling Station, Baylough, Athlone, on July 15, 2025; €120 worth of alcohol from Tesco Express, Baylough, Athlone on November 12, 2025; meat to the value of €60 from Supervalu, Monksland on both November 11, 2025 and January 7, 2026; and €70 worth of alcohol from Tesco, Golden Island Shopping Centre on January 8, 2026. The court previously heard from solicitor, Dara Hayden, that his client has a “poor history of mental health”. Mr Devaney is a heroin user, he said, and his most pressing issue is drug addiction.

Mr Devaney himself, when addressing the court, said he was looking to start on a methadone programme.

In mitigation on the sentencing day, Mr Hayden noted that his client is “well known to the court”.

“He outlined to the court that drug addiction was driving his offending behaviour. He was adamant he stay out (of custody) to try and get treatment. He’s holding his hands up and wants a clean slate. He’s motivated to try and keep his hands clean and is adamant he wants to get himself clean,” said Mr Hayden

“I would ask you to give some credit to the fact he is pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity.”

Judge Owens did note the plea to all matters, as well as the fact that Mr Devaney has “struggled in a cycle of drug offending” and the fact he has a number of relevant convictions, with some of those being committed while on bail.

“I’m doing the best I can in respect of the charges,” she remarked.

She proceeded to convict and sentence Mr Devaney to five months in prison for the theft of alcohol from Tesco, Golden Island, with a five-month concurrent sentence handed down for the theft of €120 worth of alcohol from Tesco Express, Baylough.

For the €500 worth of damage to the apartment, she imposed a consecutive sentence of eight months in prison, suspending the final four months for a period of 18 months on the condition he enter an own bond of €200 and that he remain under the supervision of the probation service.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme