Latest news with #Watkin


Sunday World
16-07-2025
- Sunday World
Stag party-goer caught with cocaine after resisting arrest and shouting abuse at gardaí
Alistair Wright (37), a self-employed joiner from Crieff in Scotland, appeared before Judge Anne Watkin at Dún Laoghaire District Court A Scottish stag party-goer who was caught with cocaine after resisting arrest and shouting abuse at gardaí has been told by a judge not to expect "to skip off home" without consequences. Alistair Wright (37), a self-employed joiner from Crieff in Scotland, appeared before Judge Anne Watkin at Dún Laoghaire District Court, where she said she had 'no tolerance' for people bringing cocaine into public places and then "taking on" the guards. The court heard that Wright had been in Dublin for a friend's stag and had been drinking all day with a group who had booked rooms at the Clayton Hotel in Donnybrook. By 8.30pm, tensions among the group escalated and staff were forced to call gardaí due to the group's behaviour. 'It must have been bad,' Judge Watkin remarked. 'It takes a lot for a hotel to ask a group of people to leave at half eight in the evening - that says it all.' When gardaí arrived, Wright became aggressive and abusive. He was asked to leave but told staff and gardaí to 'f**k off,' Sergeant Caoimmhe Conway told the court. The court heard that Wright refused to comply with directions, resisted arrest and was ultimately found to have one gram of cocaine in his possession. While he did not strike the gardaí, the court heard he resisted putting his hands behind his back and had to be restrained. 'I've no patience for cocaine,' Judge Watkin said. 'Unlike cannabis or ecstasy, it's one drug that makes people aggressive - and he's lucky things didn't end even worse.' 'He refused to cooperate. This is how gardaí get injured,' she added. 'Most people sober up when a guard appears,' Judge Watkin said. 'They don't take them on. But he refused to cooperate. This could have resulted in someone getting injured.' The court heard that Wright made no reply when charged and has no previous convictions. He pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine and to multiple public order offences, including engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour, failing to comply with garda directions and resisting a peace officer. His defence counsel, Sylvia Maria Crowley BL, said Wright was deeply embarrassed by the incident. She said he is a father of two and had 'never taken cocaine before - it was a one-off, completely out of character.' Ms Crowley asked if her client could be spared a conviction, but Judge Watkin said the matter was too serious - and that a Section 19 public order offence could warrant a jail sentence. 'He knew he had cocaine on him. If he had any cop-on at all, he wouldn't have gotten himself arrested while carrying it. You don't get to be that out of control in a public place and expect no consequences,' she said. The judge ordered a probation report and urine analysis, noting she was open to considering a community service order, but emphasised that Wright would not simply be allowed to walk away. Ms Crowley said engaging with probation services might be difficult as Wright lives and works in Scotland, but Judge Watkin made clear that custody remained on the table. 'Just because he's not living here doesn't mean he gets to skip off home to Scotland,' she said. She adjourned the matter to 10 November next for finalisation. Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme Dún Laoghaire District Court Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 16th


Irish Independent
12-07-2025
- Irish Independent
Stag party-goer caught with cocaine after resisting arrest and shouting abuse at gardaí told by judge not to expect ‘to skip off home'
Alistair Wright (37), a self-employed joiner from Crieff in Scotland, appeared before Judge Anne Watkin at Dún Laoghaire District Court, where she said she had 'no tolerance' for people bringing cocaine into public places and then "taking on" the guards. The court heard that Wright had been in Dublin for a friend's stag and had been drinking all day with a group who had booked rooms at the Clayton Hotel in Donnybrook. By 8.30pm, tensions among the group escalated and staff were forced to call gardaí due to the group's behaviour. 'It must have been bad,' Judge Watkin remarked. 'It takes a lot for a hotel to ask a group of people to leave at half eight in the evening - that says it all.' When gardaí arrived, Wright became aggressive and abusive. He was asked to leave but told staff and gardaí to 'f**k off,' Sergeant Caoimmhe Conway told the court. The court heard that Wright refused to comply with directions, resisted arrest and was ultimately found to have one gram of cocaine in his possession. While he did not strike the gardaí, the court heard he resisted putting his hands behind his back and had to be restrained. 'I've no patience for cocaine,' Judge Watkin said. 'Unlike cannabis or ecstasy, it's one drug that makes people aggressive - and he's lucky things didn't end even worse.' 'He refused to cooperate. This is how gardaí get injured,' she added. 'Most people sober up when a guard appears,' Judge Watkin said. 'They don't take them on. But he refused to cooperate. This could have resulted in someone getting injured.' The court heard that Wright made no reply when charged and has no previous convictions. He pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine and to multiple public order offences, including engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour, failing to comply with garda directions and resisting a peace officer. His defence counsel, Sylvia Maria Crowley BL, said Wright was deeply embarrassed by the incident. She said he is a father of two and had 'never taken cocaine before - it was a one-off, completely out of character.' Ms Crowley asked if her client could be spared a conviction, but Judge Watkin said the matter was too serious - and that a Section 19 public order offence could warrant a jail sentence. 'He knew he had cocaine on him. If he had any cop-on at all, he wouldn't have gotten himself arrested while carrying it. You don't get to be that out of control in a public place and expect no consequences,' she said. The judge ordered a probation report and urine analysis, noting she was open to considering a community service order, but emphasised that Wright would not simply be allowed to walk away. Ms Crowley said engaging with probation services might be difficult as Wright lives and works in Scotland, but Judge Watkin made clear that custody remained on the table. 'Just because he's not living here doesn't mean he gets to skip off home to Scotland,' she said. She adjourned the matter to 10 November next for finalisation.


Newsroom
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Newsroom
Regaining trust in a world of disinformation
There's been a lot of discussion over the past several years on the lack of public trust in institutions, and the levels of disinformation. The issues are increasingly concerning media organisations as they watch the levels of trust in their work slide. And while the latest figures show that slide may have been arrested, that's a bit like saying the floodwaters have stopped rising – there's still a flood to clean up. RNZ head of podcasts, Tim Watkin, is one media executive tasked with some serious research to work out how to restore trust in journalism. He spent three months at the University of Glasgow's philosophy department and today on The Detail he shares what he's learnt, and what he's telling RNZ's top brass needs to be done. 'If we actually can't trust the information around us, then it is potentially at least society-threatening, democracy-threatening, if not species-damaging,' he says. 'This is really important stuff. So I think we have to fix this. We have to wrestle with it, we have to make it a priority.' But this isn't the first era historically where trust in news outlets has been poor. Watkin says while we are stretching our trust muscles so thin these days, living our lives online and more disconnected from face-to-face transactions, journalism has been in this place before – and has won back trust. 'A hundred years ago … the propaganda out of World War I really had the public sceptical about what they could believe. 'That was the yellow press era, the rise of the tabloids in the UK and the US … [people were] just making stuff up, crazy stories.' Like this one. 'Through the late 1800s in particular and early 1900s, there was a real problem with trust in media. Journalism has often been unreliable, for most of its time in existence. But in the 20th century, journalism really buckled down and earnt trust. If you go back 50 years, the trust stats were way higher than they are now.' Watkin tells The Detail about the importance of a discipline of objectivity to show people journalists can take themselves out of the story to avoid bias; and the pressures that have tempted the media to push the boundaries between facts and opinion. Richard Sutherland is a media executive who's worked in several big New Zealand newsrooms and is currently back at RNZ. But later this year he's going to Estonia, to do an MA in disinformation and societal resilience. 'There's a lot of disinformation out there, and what are you going to do? Shrug your hands up and go 'There's no point fighting back against it' … or do you go, 'We've got to work out how to deal with this',' he says. But why Estonia? Well, it's a western-facing country with an English-language course in combating disinformation, which is of special interest to the nation. Sutherland says Estonia is an interesting case study in rebuilding a country from the ground up, having done so after the break-up of the Soviet Union. There was recognition in 2007 that Russia was flooding the place with disinformation, and as a result a decision was made to teach school children media literacy from a very early age. New Zealand, he suggests, perhaps doesn't see this issue through the same urgent lens, having been isolated by geography for years from war or real sectarian violence. But he says while 100 years ago that may have given us a degree of protection, it doesn't any more. 'The internet means the bad actor can be sitting 12,000 miles away and still have an impact on you. 'These guys know what it's like when things are bad, they don't want to go back. 'In the 1940s there was a great mass deportation of people from Estonia and the other Baltic states. Tens of thousands of people were shipped off to Siberia and most of them never came back. So every family now has a story about a great uncle or a grandmother or a grandfather shipped off by the Russians to Siberia and never returned. 'So when you have that kind of theme running through your national story, it focuses your mind on, 'Well, we did that once. We didn't like it. And we're not going back.'' Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here. You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter.


Wales Online
25-06-2025
- Wales Online
'Lovely' dad dies in quadbike crash near Welsh farm
A much-loved farmer died in a quad bike crash near a Welsh farm, a coroner has concluded. 39-year-old dad-of-two William Stephen Watkin – who went by his middle name – sustained a fatal head injury while riding the bike on a lane near his farm in Sarn, Powys, an inquest at Pontypridd Coroners' Court found. Mr Watkin had a "substantial background in farming" and used his quad bike on a "day-to-day basis" to navigate his way around Gwern-Y-Go Hill farm, said Coroner Patricia Morgan. "On May 29, 2024, Mr Watkin was discovered underneath his overturned quad bike on the City Lane, Sarn," she said, reports WalesOnline. "Emergency services were called and it was noted that Mr Watkin had sustained head injuries and was in cardiac arrest. "Paramedics administered life-saving treatment. However, sadly, Mr Watkin was pronounced deceased at the scene." Ms Morgan found it was likely Mr Watkin lost control of the quad due to the uneven terrain. She ruled the death an accident. The death of the Welshpool-born farmer – who was married with two daughters – led to a flood of social media tributes. Newtown rugby club posted: "Steve was a great player and a loyal and dedicated member of the Newtown RFC family. "Our thoughts and condolences are with his family and friends at this difficult time. Rest in peace, Steve x." Other social media comments described him as "a lovely lad with a huge character" and "a happy, fun, caring, and genuinely great bloke". You can sign up for all the latest court stories here Find out what's happening near you


North Wales Live
25-06-2025
- North Wales Live
'Lovely' dad dies in quadbike crash near Welsh farm
A much-loved farmer died in a quad bike crash near a Welsh farm, a coroner has concluded. 39-year-old dad-of-two William Stephen Watkin – who went by his middle name – sustained a fatal head injury while riding the bike on a lane near his farm in Sarn, Powys, an inquest at Pontypridd Coroners' Court found. Mr Watkin had a "substantial background in farming" and used his quad bike on a "day-to-day basis" to navigate his way around Gwern-Y-Go Hill farm, said Coroner Patricia Morgan. "On May 29, 2024, Mr Watkin was discovered underneath his overturned quad bike on the City Lane, Sarn," she said, reports WalesOnline. "Emergency services were called and it was noted that Mr Watkin had sustained head injuries and was in cardiac arrest. "Paramedics administered life-saving treatment. However, sadly, Mr Watkin was pronounced deceased at the scene." Ms Morgan found it was likely Mr Watkin lost control of the quad due to the uneven terrain. She ruled the death an accident. The death of the Welshpool-born farmer – who was married with two daughters – led to a flood of social media tributes. Newtown rugby club posted: "Steve was a great player and a loyal and dedicated member of the Newtown RFC family. "Our thoughts and condolences are with his family and friends at this difficult time. Rest in peace, Steve x." Other social media comments described him as "a lovely lad with a huge character" and "a happy, fun, caring, and genuinely great bloke".