A young Wicklow man has been jailed for 18 months for punching a garda who was trying to arrest him in the head.
Dylan Ford (25), of Ard na Mara, Kilcoole, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting a peace officer on October 12th, 2020, near the Top Oil service station in Newcastle, Co Wicklow, contrary to Section 19 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994.
Sergeant Declan Scott told a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court that gardaí had been alerted to suspicious activity about a vehicle at the garage forecourt on that evening.
When gardaí arrived at the service station, Sgt Scott said Ford admitted ownership of a knife found in the car before running away from the scene.
Sgt Scott said another officer, Garda Alan Thompson, was punched three times on the side of the head by the accused when he attempted to detain him a short distance away.
Although his colleague had no visible injury, Sgt Scott said Garda Thompson was off sick for three months and could not return to full duties for a further three months.
The court heard the victim continued to suffer spells of dizziness and headaches as well as panic attacks following the assault.
Ford subsequently made a voluntary statement to gardaí in which he accepted responsibility for his actions but stated he had no recollection of the incident as he was under the influence of cocaine at the time.
The court heard that Ford was also charged with two public order offences in relation to the same incident which were dealt with at District Court level.
Counsel for the DPP, James Kelly BL, said the defendant had 12 previous convictions, including four for threatening behaviour.
'Reckless'
He also informed Judge Patrick Quinn that Ford had only pleaded guilty to assaulting a garda on the day he was due to face a jury trial.
Sgt Scott accepted that Ford’s attack on his victim was “reckless rather than intentional.”
However, he also pointed out that the accused had committed seven further offences while on bail for the charge before the court.
The court heard that Ford was later discovered on the evening of the assault in a topless state on the roof of his grandfather’s house telling gardaí to keep away.
Sgt Scott said Ford was topless as his T-shirt had been ripped away during his attempted arrest by gardaí.
Cross-examined by counsel for the accused, Edmund Sweetman BL, he agreed that Ford had difficult personal circumstances, while also suffering from mental health issues.
Sgt Scott also acknowledged that Ford had apologised for hurting anyone and had expressed remorse.
The sergeant noted too that Ford was a very pleasant young man “when clean and sober.”
Mr Sweetman told the court that his client, who had worked in various jobs in landscaping and construction, had enrolled in a drug treatment programme but had “fallen back into the spiral of addiction.”
The barrister said it had led to an incident where Ford had threatened his mother with a knife.
However, he said Ford was currently clean and urged the judge to suspend any custodial sentence with strict conditions so that he could continue to make progress in treating his addiction.
In reply, Judge Quinn said assaulting a garda was a very serious offence.
Sentencing Ford to three years, the judge said he would suspend the final 18 months on condition that on release from prison he engaged with the Probation Service and followed their direction in relation to any referrals for drug treatment.
Judge Quinn said he was suspending part of the sentence so that Ford could “address his addiction.”
