Man ‘licked his lips’  after being pepper-sprayed by gardai during incident in Limerick town

A BROADFORD man “licked his lips” after being pepper sprayed by gardai, Kilmallock Court heard.

Kieran Coughlan, aged 30, of John Paul Terrace, Broadford pleaded not guilty to failure to comply with the direction of gardai and threatening / abusive / insulting behaviour.

The State’s case is that Mr Coughlan was exceptionally aggressive and intoxicated; pushed a garda; and used abusive language to a female.

Michael O’Donnell, solicitor for Mr Coughlan, said his client was not charged with intoxication; was not violent; was leaving the scene and no complaints were made by a female.

“His jaw was broken and he had six or seven teeth cracked,” said Mr O’Donnell.

The first person to take the stand was Garda Ken O’Driscoll. At around 1am on November 12, 2017, he received a call for assistance due to a large crowd in the Square in Newcastle West.

“There had been two Ireland matches on earlier. A lot of people were intoxicated. There was an unusual atmosphere. There were various people at the front door of Cronin’s. A male I now know as Kieran Coughlan arrived at the front door. He was demanding admission. He was extremely animated and using foul language. I attempted to calm him down and directed him to leave. He pushed me on several occasions,” said Garda O’Driscoll. 

The garda said Mr Coughlan told him, “I couldn’t tell him what to do”.

“I pulled him away towards the patrol car. He did seem to calm down. We came to an agreement he was going to get a burger and chips and go home. We shook hands and he left,” said Garda O’Driscoll.

The garda said Mr Coughlan then used foul language towards a young lady sitting on a vehicle.

“I informed the defendant I was going to arrest him. He became aggressive again towards me. I used a small amount of pepper spray to effect the arrest. He licked his lips and put himself in a defensive stance. It had no effect.

“I deployed pepper spray again. I attempted to bring him to the ground. I was assisted by one of the door staff and a garda. I put the handcuffs on him and from there he was taken to Newcastle West Garda Station,” said Garda O’Driscoll. 

Answering questions from Inspector Pat Brennan, prosecuting on behalf of the State, Garda O’Driscoll said Mr Coughlan was exceptionally intoxicated, shouting in a loud and aggressive manner and didn’t comply with his directions.

Mr O’Donnell, who represented Mr Coughlan, said his client’s “jaw was broken and he had six or seven teeth cracked. Do you know this?” “Yes,” said Garda O’Driscoll.

CCTV from the night was shown to the court. Mr O’Donnell said it shows his client “waddling” up the street with a friend away from gardai. “Why was he arrested when he was leaving?” asked Mr O’Donnell.

Garda O’Driscoll said this was after their initial interaction and Mr Coughlan agreed to get a burger and chips and go home.

“There was a young lady sitting on the wing of a car. I can’t recall what he said to her but it was fairly foul. If it was said to my daughter I would not be happy. I had to draw the line somewhere. He was under no illusion it was his last chance,” said Garda O’Drsicoll.

Mr O’Donnell said there has been no complaints made by a female.

“Mr Coughlan has never been in trouble in his life. You followed him up the street. You had no reason to arrest him in the fashion that you did. He was not violent and was not aggressive,” said Mr O’Donnell.

Garda O’Driscoll said Mr Coughlan was “exceptionally high risk”.

The second garda to give evidence was Yohan Hunt. He said Mr Coughlan told them “to f** off and we’d do nothing about it”.

Mr O’Donnell said his client was walking away, gardai followed him and arrested him. Garda Hunt said Mr Coughlan was being dragged away by a friend and he “continued to abuse us”.

“There would be no problem if he left,” said Garda Hunt. 

The next witness was a Polish security officer who Garda O’Driscoll said assisted him with Mr Coughlan.

“It was a very busy night – a lot of people were in the Square. There was a short man, not a very big man who was very aggressive. Guards tried to calm him down. He said something to gardai. He was very aggressive to gardai. He pushed the guard.

“The guard defended himself. He used pepper spray. He (Mr Coughlan)  stepped back for a second and then became aggressive again. It is my rule not to interrupt but the garda needed help so I gave him a hand to pull him down. He (Mr Coughlan) was very violent,” said the security guard.

Mr O’Donnell asked him if he heard Mr Coughlan say anything to girls that night? “I don’t remember any girls,” he replied.

The third of four garda witnesses – Inspector Gary Thompson – said long before coronavirus gardai on the night were engaging, encouraging people to go home and, as a last resort, enforcing. He said Mr Coughlan was “thrashing violently” to resist arrest.

“He was aggressive in the extreme. In my 23 years in the job it was one of the more exercised detainees I’ve encountered. It was a three person job,” said Insp Thompson.

Mr O’Donnell said Mr Coughlan’s jaw was broken  and teeth fractured.

“We had no way of knowing that at the time. He was thrashing so we took reasonable force to bring him under control,” said Insp Thompson.

The last garda witness was Garda Maurice O’Brien, the member in charge of Newcastle West Garda Station. Mr O’Donnell asked him if he saw any visible sign of injury when Mr Coughlan was brought in.

“There was swelling on the left hand side of his face and his eyes were red. I was aware he had been pepper sprayed which causes red eyes and puffiness,” said Garda O’Brien.

Insp Brennan asked what was Mr Coughlan’s response when he was asked for the custody record, “Are you injured?” “No,” was the reply said Garda O’Brien.

Mr Coughlan was the last person to give evidence. He said he had recently returned from Australia and went out that night with friends in Newcastle West.

“I was meeting people I hadn’t seen in years,” said Mr Coughlan. He said that he was trying to get around a group of people who hadn’t been let in.

“A garda kept telling me to calm down. I was trying to leave. I was going to Superbites. I said why are you following me? They put me up against the wall. He was pushing me and then he sprayed me. I was taken to the ground,” said Mr Coughlan.

Mr O’Donnell asked if he said anything to young females?

“No. I would never do that to strangers,” said Mr Coughlan.

Mr O’Donnell asked if he was being aggressive or violent? Mr Coughlan denied he was.

“My jaw was broken in two places. I have screws inset. I don’t have any feeling in my lip. I was trying to leave the scene. It was handled completely wrong,” said Mr Coughlan.

Insp Brennan asked him what time he went out and how much did he have to drink.

“Around 10. I had three pints and two shorts,” said Mr Coughlan. Insp Brennan said that wasn’t a lot. 

“It looked to me on the CCTV that you were unsteady on your feet and your friend was helping you,” said Mr Brennan.

“He was pulling me aside,” said Mr Coughlan.

Judge Patrica Harney said she found Mr Coughlan to be an “unreliable witness”.

“It appears to me from the CCTV to be extremely drunk, lurching to one side and propped up by his friend. The independent witness (security guard) was very clear and cogent. He said Mr Coughlan was very aggressive and gardai had grave difficulties in dealing with him. He said he had to weigh in to assist gardai. I am satisfied Mr Coughlan behaved extremely badly,” said Judge Harney.

The judge said she was dismissing the failure to comply summons because it was common case that Mr Coughlan was walking away despite his “behaviour”.

Judge Harney found him guilty of threatening / abusive / insulting behaviour “beyond a reasonable doubt”.

In mitigation, Mr O’Donnell said Mr Coughlan was a carpenter, was in a relationship and it was his first time before a court.

Judge Harney said: “Quite frankly I don’t believe him. The level of aggression to gardai was egregious. It took three people to subdue him. The security guard felt sufficiently concerned to weigh in. Given the level of aggression I am going to convict. I don’t want to see him again. Due to his previously clean record I am going to fine him €200. He suffered fairly painful injuries”.

Recognisance was fixed in the event of an appeal.