Man slammed by judge for extending Spain holiday and missing community service
During his latest court appearance, John Luke Fitzgerald was lambasted by a judge for 'swanning off' to Salou at a time when he also owed £3,000 in court payments.
Fitzgerald, now aged 37, was originally sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court in August, 2023, for dangerous driving. He had followed and rammed his on-off partner's vehicle with his, leaving her terrified.
For that offence, and breaching a previously imposed suspended prison sentence, he received a jail term totalling 12 months. Fitzgerald was also ordered to complete a two-year driving disqualification when released from custody, and warned he remained banned until he passed an extended test.
But Fitzgerald was back at court in May this year after police saw him driving an Audi along Carlisle's Brampton Road on February 6.
The mechanic drove while disqualified having opted to get in a car 'impulsively' — when told he was needed at his place of work — instead of cycling as usual.
His punishment for that offence was a 12-month community order and requirements which included the completion of 80 hours' unpaid work.
However, Fitzgerald was back at court yet again today (Monday) as part of a prosecution brought by the probation service. He admitted failing to attend two unpaid work sessions, on July 6 and 13, and failing to provide timely evidence to reasonably excuse those absences.
From the dock, Fitzgerald explained that on the first occasion he attended for unpaid work late, after a bicycle chain snapped.
On the second date, he failed to show after extending a four-day holiday in Salou. 'It wasn't long enough,' he said of the original planned duration.
But that cut little ice with deputy district judge Andrew Garthwaite.
The judge told Fitzgerald, of Walton, near Brampton, he had sympathy with his bike mishap.
'What I can't sympathise with is that you went to Salou and got behind with your fine payments,' said the judge, who accused Fitzgerald of 'swanning off' while owing £3,000.
'When you appear before a court it is not some form of nice negotiation: you ask for a few things and hope you get them. I've got the power here, not you.
'I'm not happy you've gone off on your holidays and not done something you are supposed to do by order of the court. If you don't complete it you can go to prison.'
'You need to get your life in order. You need to get yourself sorted out. I'm not happy — not happy in the slightest,' added the judge. 'There are plenty of people in worse positions than you who pay their fines and don't spend money on themselves. You've got to make sure you get your priorities in place.'
Fitzgerald was given 20 extra hours' unpaid work as punishment, and must pay costs.
'Don't come back here,' the judge warned him.
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Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
These companies appear in secret documents of Cuba's largest military conglomerate
A Miami Herald investigation that revealed that a Cuban military conglomerate is holding billions in secret dollar reserves amid the ongoing collapse of the economy shows the island's armed services have created a network large of companies that tap into almost every string of foreign revenue entering the island.. Secret financial documents obtained by the Herald show that GAESA, the military's umbrella company that has a multitude of subsidiaries, had $18 billion in current assets as of March 2024, most of it deposited in unknown bank accounts. The Herald obtained more than 20 financial statements from GAESA's internal accounting system for March and August 2024. The Herald also obtained a PowerPoint presentation with financial information from Cimex's, the largest holding company under the umbrella. Financial statements for March and August last year, titled 'Balance de datos' (Data Balance) and 'Estado de Resultados por Conceptos '(roughly translated as income statement by concept), identify 25 companies in the conglomerate, grouped into three categories: state enterprises, 'international economic associations,' and mipymes, the Spanish acronym for micro, small, and medium enterprises. The Cuban government uses the 'international economic associations' category to authorize contracts with foreign firms to manage Cuban hotels, exploit natural resources and similar partnerships. It may involve the creation of new companies in a 'joint venture' or just a contract for services. Cimex's presentation mentioned six of its companies, though most were not named. Some of the companies named in the documents obtained by the Herald have not been previously identified as being part of GAESA. That includes Aries S.A., the company that operates the cruise terminal in Havana, which was used by several cruise companies taking U.S. travelers to the island between 2016 and 2019. Cimex is believed to be the island's largest commercial corporation, with businesses in several sectors including international trade, retail, tourism, banking, transportation, logistics and real estate among others. According to a 2020 research paper authored by a Cimex analyst, the holding had 41 enterprises at the time. It also operated 668 gas stations around the country in 2020, according to the declaration of its legal director, Mali Suris Valmaña, in a U.S. court case involving a lawsuit filed by Exxon against Cimex. In her declaration, Valmaña spilled the beans regarding Cimex's true ownership: the Cuban company is owned by Corporación CIMEX, S.A, registered in Panama. GAESA and many of its companies, including Cimex, are under U.S. sanctions, though several mentioned in the documents are not. Here is the list of the companies named in the documents obtained by the Herald: Monte Barreto, a real estate company that owns and operates the Miramar Trade Center, an office and retail building complex in Havana in a joint venture with Ceiba Investments Ltd, a company registered in the Isle of Guernsey, a tax haven. Azul Inmobiliaria, a real estate company that manages condominiums in partnership with an Italian company, BD International. Logística Hotelera del Caribe (LHC), a joint venture based at the special development zone in Mariel that sells food and supplies to hotels in Cuba. Complejo de Museos Históricos Militares, (Military History Museum Complex), an enterprise that manages the Museum of Revolution, the Morro Castle and the Cabaña fortress in de Aceite Ecasol (Ecasol Oil Marketing Company), a cooking oil commercialization company. Comercializadora de Aceite Ecasol (Ecasol Oil Marketing Company), a cooking oil commercialization de Servicios Generales de la Marina (Maritime General Services Company). The Herald could not find public information about this company. Empresa de Servicios Ingenieros Dirección Integrada de Proyectos Mariel (Mariel Integrated Project Management Engineering Services Company), a company handling port, logistics, infrastructure and building projects at the special development zone in Inmobiliaria Almest, a real estate company investing in Importadora Tecnotex, (Technical Products Importer and Exporter Company, also known as Tecnoimport), a company mired in an alleged corruption scandal in TRD-Caribe, one of the island's largest hard currency stores S.A., an airline flying Universales S.A., a logistics company that handles operations at the port of Antex S.A., (previously known as Corporación Antillana de Exportaciones, SA), a corporation contracting doctors and managing businesses in S.A. (also known as Empresa Comercializadora y Exportadora de Productos Agropecuarios y Agroindustriales, S.A.) is an importer and exporter of agricultural products, which functions as an intermediary for private enterprises importing food y Extracción de Petróleo y Gas S.A (Oil and Gas Exploration and Extraction S.A.). The Herald could not find public information about a company with this name. A similarly named company (Unión de Exploración, Perforación y Extracción de Petróleo) merged with Union del Combustible in 1992 to create CUPET, Cuba's main oil de Turismo Gaviota S.A., GAESA's flagship tourism companyInmobiliaria Caribe S.A., a real estate company providing 'rental services in prime areas of the capital,' according to its Facebook Marítimos S.A. (Maritime Services S.A.). The Herald could not find public data about a company with this name. Cuba's Communist Party newspaper Granma reported last year that a new Cuban company named Servicios Marítimos Mariel S.A. operating at the special development zone in Mariel, would offer customs services, processing of manifests and supplies to ships and crews at the port of Automotores S.A., a company importing and selling cars and car de Auditoría S.A., a company providing auditing services with its main office in Miramar, in a company that operates the cruise terminal in the port of Havana. It was previously believed to be affiliated with GEMAR, a holding company part of the Ministry of Importadora y Exportadora de Productos Técnicos (Technical Products Importer and Exporter Company, also known as Tecnoimport), a company sued by Russian truckmaker Ural for Moncada, a new cement factory built last year in Santiago de Cuba. The administration of the plant was offered as an investment project in 2021, according to a document by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment. Agencia Importadora Caribe Surl, an importer Grafo Caribe Surl, an advertising company. Both are linked to TRD Caribe, the store chain, the documents show. Cimex Mariel, a company based in the Mariel Special Development Zone that produces and sells coffee under the brands Cubita and Financiera CIMEX, a company handling remittances and credit cards transactions in Cimex S.A., a real estate S.A. ( Zona Especializada de Logística y Comercio, ZELCOM S.A), a free trade zone near Tarará S.A., a lodging and rentals S.A., an information technology company offering 'applications, technology and network solutions,' according to its profile on Facebook.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
El Paso Walmart shooting victims remembered, but closure may never come to their families
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Los Angeles Times
5 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘Operation Trojan Horse': Westlake Home Depot raided, again; reignites fears of more sweeps
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