Tipperary man threatened to strike Garda detective sergeant across the head with a glass ashtray

A 52 year-old Carrick-on-Suir man has received a four month suspended jail sentence for threatening to strike a detective sergeant with an ashtray while gardai were executing a search warrant on his home. 

Judge David Waters imposed the sentence on Gary O'Brien of 22 Glenview, Carrick-on-Suir after he found him guilty of the assault of Det. Sgt. David Buckley at Glenview, Carrick-on-Suir on October 11, 2017.  

O'Brien had pleaded not guilty at Carrick-on-Suir District Court to the offence. 

Garda Inspector David Buckley told the court that as part of an investigation into the theft of a ladder in Mullinahone, he obtained a warrant at Dungarvan District Court to search the home of Gary O'Brien.

 The warrant was executed at 6.45pm on October 11, 2017, said the inspector who was a detective sergeant at the time. 

 Following a detailed search of the house, Insp. Buckley said Gda. Kirby informed Gary O'Brien he was being arrested. 

At that point, Gary O'Brien became argumentative and refused to go to the garda station because he was tired and working the following day.  Gda. Kirby informed him of the process of arrest to Mr O'Brien but he refused.  

"I intervened and explained to him in simple English the whole process of arrest and detention. 

He was sitting in a two-seater couch smoking and there was a glass ashtray on the arm of the couch.

 He called me a 'narrow framed b*****d" and said 'you ugly c**t I am going to hit you in the face with this ashtray'.

Insp. Buckley said at that point he feared for his safety and directed Gary O'Brien to desist and not threaten him. 

Moments later Mr O'Brien stood up, put on his coat and was taken to Clonmel Garda Station and then to Cahir Garda Station.  The court heard that no items of evidential value were found during the search of Mr O'Brien's house.  

Under cross-examination from solicitor Eamonn Hayes, Insp. Buckely said he didn't recall dogs escaping from Mr O'Brien's house when the gardai entered the house.

 Mr Hayes put it to him that any angry or vexatious words his client made on that day were directed towards the dogs that escaped and their reluctance to come back into the house. 

Insp. Buckley replied that Mr O'Brien's comments were made solely at him. "They weren't related  to any animal. They were said with venom and aggression."

 Insp. Buckley also denied under cross examination that the ashtray was on a coffee table. He said the threat "carried weight" becuase Mr O'Brien could reach out to the ashtray on the arm of the couch when he made the threat. 

Mr Hayes also put to him that what Mr O'Brien said in reference to the dogs was  "I will catch him and put my foot down his neck". Insp. Buckley said those words were not uttered in his presence. 

Gda. Cathal Kirby told the court he heard Mr O'Brien threatening to smash Det. Sgt Buckley in the face with the ashtray and he was in no doubt the comments were directed towards the detective. 

 He was standing directly in front of the defendant at the time. He didn't recall seeing two dogs escaping from Mr O'Brien's house and Mr O'Brien encouraging them to come back. 

Det. Gda. Patrick O'Gorman, who was also involved in the search of Mr O'Brien's house, said Gary O'Brien was very argumentative and aggressive when Gda. Kirby was trying to arrest him. 

He heard him threaten to assault Insp. Buckley with the ashtray though he couldn't remember word for word what he said. He remembered seeing an ashtray on the arm of the couch Gary O'Brien was sitting on. 

When the prosecution evidence concluded, Mr Hayes applied for the case to be struck out on the grounds the gardai didn't produce the search warrant to the court. 

But Judge Waters rejected the application because this case didn't centre on anything the gardai saw in the house.  The search warrant was only mentioned in evidence to explain why the gardai were at the house, the judge pointed out. 

Gary O'Brien then went into the witness stand and told the court he was only upset his two dogs got out because they were hard to catch. "They ran out down towards the main road. I was calling them back to get them back."

He said he threatened one of the dogs that he would catch him and put his foot down his neck. "It was just a figure of speech. I wouldn't do them any harm," he stressed. 

Mr O'Brien denied calling Insp. Buckley a "narrow framed b*****d" and "ugly c**t" and denied threatening to hit him with an ashtray. He said there was no ashtray on the arm of the couch.  It was on a coffee table some distance from him in the room. 

"I have nothing against the gardai.  I never made a threat against the gardai," he insisted. 

After hearing all the evidence, Judge Waters said he was satisfied with the garda evidence, particularly that of the injured party Inspector Buckley and Gda. Kirby, who gave very specific evidence.

He didn't find Mr O'Brien's evidence to be credible. The aggravating factor in this case was the threat of assault to a detective sergeant in the course of his duty but in mitigation that threat was verbal and there was no evidence he took any steps to make good the threat. 

The court heard that Mr O'Brien had 71 previous convictions, 51 of which were for road traffic offences. 

Mr Hayes said his client was currently unemployed. He was in a relationship and the couple had adult twin girls. 

Judge Waters suspended the four months prison sentence he imposed on Gary O'Brien for 12 months and agreed to fix recognisance in the event of appeal.