A Cork grandmother was jailed for 90 days yesterday, for what a judge described as repeated and wilful refusal to wear a face covering while shopping.
66 year-old Margaret Buttimer from Bandon, had previously received a suspended sentence for refusing to wear a mask. Her solicitor told the court that her refusal was based on health reasons and that her family was concerned about her recent behaviour.
According to The Irish Examiner:
In addition to having been convicted of an offence arising from an incident in Clonakilty in February, last month Ms Buttimer pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to wear a mask while in shops in Bandon on two dates in May.
Sentencing was deferred on those two charges until July 12, pending the provision of a medical report.
However, she then faced two further counts of refusing to wear a mask at SuperValu, Riverview Shopping Centre in Bandon, on June 25 and July 1, with the latter incident alleged to have taken place while on bail, the conditions of which prohibited her from being in certain parts of Bandon and from entering retail premises.
In court, Ms Buttimer contested the most recent charges, with Judge James McNulty hearing evidence from the store manager at SuperValu in Bandon, Alan Owens, that he had encountered Ms Buttimer on both occasions, once in-store and a second time at the entrance. She was not wearing a mask on either occasion and two gardaí also testified that she had refused to wear a mask.
While sentencing Ms Buttimer to 90 days in prison, Judge McNulty said:
Locally, Margaret Buttimer has disregarded the rights to health and safety of those who work in frontline retail, from the store manager to the checkout girl.
She has been disrespectful to other compliant shoppers, who may be vulnerable, or who may be the carers of vulnerable children or elderly relatives. Her own elderly mother is 93 and her partner is 69 — and they are also entitled to be protected from her irresponsibility.”
This story is in every single Irish newspaper this morning and is being discussed on national and local radio stations. Not a single journalist has condemned the imprisonment of a senior citizen for refusing to put her own health at risk by wearing a muzzle.
How dare McNulty invoke the catastrophic effect that lockdowns have had on Irish businesses and chastise Margaret Buttimer for not respecting those businesses.
It’s mind-bending isn’t it? The Irish government has destroyed people’s lives and businesses, wrecked children’s futures and set off a mental health epidemic that we’ll be dealing with for generations.
The architects of the catastrophe walk free, while a grandmother is handed down a 90 day prison sentence for not “respecting” their victims. Welcome to dystopia.
