A MAN who suffers from bi-polar disorder was given a suspended sentence of three months in prison at Wexford District Court for a public order offence.

Rory Stafford, 4, High Street, Wexford pleaded guilty to engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to provoke a breach of the peace at Rowe Street on May 24.

Inspector Pat McDonald said Garda Gerard Guinan found the defendant causing a disturbance outside a pub. When he approached him, he became very abusive. He said the accused had a number of previous convictions, the most recent being in April when he was placed on Probation for two years.

Aoife Pettitt, solicitor handed in a letter from her client's GP and a local councillor. She said the defendant suffered from bi-polar disorder for which he was taking medication.

Unfortunately, the medication did not mix well with alcohol, she said, adding that he had an appointment with the Cornmarket Project to talk to a counsellor about his alcohol problem.

Judge O Buachalla sentenced him to three months in prison, the warrant not to issue on him entering a bond to be of good behaviour for two years.

He also fined him €300 for a public order offence in December 2008 when he was intoxicated in a public place.

Recognizances were fixed in the event of an appeal.