WEXFORD ECHO NEWSPAPERS Wednesday 8th July 2009 3

Attended: Ballagh Field Day

Pic: John WalshEthan Freeman and Iarla Boyce pictured at The Ballagh Field Day on Sunday.

White Family: Attends Flower Festival

Pic: John Walshl-r: Lisa, Amelia, Marie and Jack White pictured at the Festival of Music &Flowers in Kilmuckridge Parish Church, proceeds in aid ofKilmuckridge/Kilnamanagh Restoration Fund last weekend.

IT’S HALF-TIME inthe Tag Rugby season atEnniscorthy RFC, part ofthe IRFU’s official Tagprogramme, and it’s beenplenty of fun and enter-tainment all the way.

The Ross Road venuehas seen sixty excitingmatches as part of theweekly Thursday nightevent over the past fiveweeks, involving nearly300 players (men andwomen).

Glorious weather (todate!), large crowds, aprèstag nights, music, BBQs

and great sporting specta-cle have all contributed tocreate a fantastic atmos-phere.

With play-off matcheslooming, plus visits fromthe Heineken Cup andGrand Slam trophies onthe way to Enniscorthy,Tag nights on Thursdays atRoss Road is certainly theplace to be.

Sports fans should notethat the Heineken Cup tro-phy visits the Ross Roadclubhouse next Thursdaynight July 16, and then onJuly 30 they will have the

chance to see the pinnacleof Irish Rugby successwith the visit there of theSix Nations and TripleCrown trophies.

In the meantime, comealong to Thursday night’sTag events, the first fourmatches kicking off at 7p.m. each night, with sub-sequent games at 7.45 p.m.and 8.30 p.m.

This week’s Après Tagfeatures a Wii GamesNight.

The finals in the TagRugby take place on Sat-urday August 8.

Local Tag Rugbywelcomes the world!

from page 1

Rellis said he had gotteninto a minor scuffle with afellow inmate over a jobcleaning the prison gym,for which inmates receivea box of cigarettes a day,and there was now a hiton his life.

“€900 worth of gearhas been put on me to getme stabbed,” said Rellis.

Ms. Boyle explainedthat anyone who stabsRellis will receive €900of drugs and said herclient, who is unable totrust anyone in prison, “isso terrified of this heasked to be put in solitaryconfinement”.

Rellis’s brother, whowas recently incarcerated,also had to go into protec-tive custody wheninmates discovered hewas the defendant’s sib-ling.

“They’ll cut him to getto me. They’ll cut up mybrother,” said Rellis.

Ms. Boyle said Rellishad a difficult upbringingand had “not been givenany of the normal careand support one wouldexpect from a family”.

Ms. Boyle said Rellis,who had previously resist-ed counselling, was now

willing to engage with anaddiction programme andhad seen a psychologist.

Michael Durak, S.C.,defending Somers, saidboth men blamed theother for setting the fireand said Somers was“ashamed of what he did”.

Mr. Durak said hisclient had a difficultchildhood. His parentsseparated when he was 14and his father died whenhe was 15.

“He was drinking alco-hol and sniffing glue as ayoung child. All of hisoffences revolve aroundthat and he spent a lot ofhis teenage years in deten-tion. He had no [family]control at all as a teenag-er. That had a profoundlynegative effect,” said Mr.Durak.

Mr. Durak said all butone of his client’s previ-ous convictions had beencommitted when Somerswas a juvenile and said hehad not come to Gardaattention since 2007.

Mr. Durak appealed fora suspended sentence,with very stringent condi-tions, in order to give hisclient “some glimmer ofhope”.

Having taken a numberof days to review reportsand consider her verdict,

Judge Alice Doylelabelled the men’s actionsas “wanton destruction”.

The Judge said the van-dalism and arson werefuelled by drink, and pos-sibly drugs, on the nightand said both defendantsknew there was smokecoming from the school asthey left the scene but haddone nothing to limit thedamage.

“Both defendants triedto blame each other forthe fire but I think bothare equally guilty. Societyneeds to be protectedfrom further actions ofthese young men because ofthe high risk of reoffend-ing,” she added.

Sentencing Somers, theJudge said she took intoaccount his early plea ofguilty as it had saved thestate an enormous amountof time and money. TheJudge mentioned Somers’difficult up-bringing and thefact his father died when hewas only 15. She pointed tothe fact that since this inci-dent in 2007, Somers hadnot been involved in anytrouble with the Gardaí.

Somers, who attended theschool in question as a stu-dent, she said, was a brightyoung man who completedhis Junior Cert in custodydespite leaving school at the

age of 11.Sentencing Rellis, Judge

Doyle said he had difficul-ties while in prison onanother matter and is underlockdown for 23 hours aday.

Appealing to the prisongovernor, Judge Doyle said:“What hope does this youngman have when he has beengetting drugs while inprison. I address theseremarks to the governor thatthis young man should getno more drugs while he isunder his [governor’s]care?”

She also pointed out thatRellis had suicidal tenden-cies and the governor shouldbe made aware of this.

The Judge took intoaccount the fact he had atough upbringing and thathe had been taking drinkand drugs since the age ofnine. “This young manwas neglected and brutal-ized in his childhood.”

She said Rellis shouldbe given access to leisurefacilities and routine men-tal health analysis while inthe State’s care in prison.

Both men received two-and-a-half year sentenceswith the final 12 months ofthe sentence suspended onthe basis that they are ofgood behavior for threeyears after their release.

School arsonistsreceive jail term

Camolin, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford.

Phone: 053 9383255

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