A BANDON man who was aggressive and resisted arrest by gardaí was foaming at the mouth and showed physical signs of drug use during the incident, a court heard last week
Brian O’Donovan of Knocknagarrane, Crossmahon, Bandon pleaded guilty at Bandon District Court to four public order charges including being drunk in a public place, using threatening, abusive or insulting words of behaviour and obstructing a peace officer.
Sgt Trish O’Sullivan told the court that on December 2nd last while on mobile patrol in Bandon, gardaí came across a group of people who were acting suspiciously at St Finbarr’s Place.
‘Gardaí approached them to carry out a search and when Gda David Murphy tried to search the defendant he took something from his jacket and put it on a nearby wall.
‘He was also showing physical signs of drug use,’ said Sgt O’Sullivan.
‘He actively resisted the search and went head-to-head wth Gda Murphy and his pupils were dilated and he was frothing at the mouth.’
The court also heard that Mr O’Donovan then physically resisted arrest and it took a number of gardaí to arrest him. He continued to resist while on route to Bandon Garda Station and was acting in an aggressive manner, the court heard.
The defendant has 12 previous convictions.
Most of those are road traffic-related while others were for criminal damage.
Defence solicitor Plunkett Taaffe said his client, who works as a ground operator, wished to apologise for his behaviour.
‘He had been out drinking and while he didn’t have drugs, he acted inappropriately.
‘He reacted badly to the gardaí and he was with a group of others who all acted in a similar manner,’ said Mr Taaffe.
‘It did lead to an unpleasant and unwarranted episode,’ he added.
Judge James McNulty remarked that it was certainly ‘unpleasant’ for the gardaí who had to deal with the defendant that night.
Judge McNulty convicted and fined the defendant a total of €600 for the two public order offences.
The judge requested a probation report for obstructing a peace officer.
He deferred penalty in the case until a hearing on September 16th.
