Arm gardaí with Tasers on duty, says RTÉ’s Valerie Cox
Broadcaster’s garda son stabbed in attack by gang
ALL gardaí should be equipped with Tasers to protect themselves, according to the mother of Garda Eoin Cox, who was beaten and stabbed while on duty at the weekend.
Valerie Cox, an RTÉ radio broadcaster, was horrified to learn that her son had been taken to hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning after being badly beaten by a group of up to seven thugs.
Eoin, 35, was stabbed in the leg with a screwdriver. His leg was slashed from his knee to his ankle, causing him to bleed profusely.
And now his mother believes that all Garda officers should be given greater protection on duty.
‘I’d like to see these situations pre-empted, the gardaí are armed with a baton and pepper spray. But I really would like them to have something else as well, I would like to see them with a Taser,’ Ms Cox told the Irish Daily Mail.
‘People will say then that gardaí will use it indiscriminately. Of course they wouldn’t. These people are trained forensically. They have wonderful training and we trust them.
‘Eoin wasn’t doing anything unusual or heroic. He was only doing his job. They are going out into these situations every single day. They are going out to these situations and they never know what they are going to meet.’
The attack happened shortly after 6am on Sunday in Hillview Estate, Ballinteer, south Dublin.
While investigating a stolen car with his partner, Garda Cox, who is due to become a father for the first time in two months, spotted the vehicle and gave chase to men who abandoned it.
He attempted to make arrests after following them into the housing estate but was set upon him and suffered a swollen neck, swollen ear, suspected concussion and the stab wound.
Garda Cox was brought to St James’s Hospital for treatment but has since been released and is recovering at home in the care of his partner and parents Valerie and Brian.
‘He was beaten up all over. He is very sore and a bit shocked about the whole thing,’ said Ms Cox.
‘As parents, we are horrified because Eoin always wanted to be a garda and when he went and did that we were so proud of him. I remember his passing out ceremony even and his nanny and granddad were there and they were so proud. He is very fit. He has represented Ireland in Taekwondo, he has done triathlons, he trains every day and he plays rugby.
‘When you are hit by seven people and they are bashing your head, what can you do. He said he tried to protect his head, which he would have learned in martial arts,
‘He was beaten
up all over’
but he said they really tried to go for his head.
Garda Cox – whose paternal grandfather John Cox was one of the State’s first Garda recruits in 1922 – had been due to represent the force and march in the St Patrick’s Day parade in New York, but it is not known if he will be well enough to make the trip.
His family said that the Garda community is very united and when they learn of the injury or death of a member while on duty, it shocks and upsets them all.
Ms Cox added: ‘I am absolutely shocked that seven men would attack a lone garda in uniform. I would also like to see the ruling that’s in the US come in here. If you touch a police officer in the States, it’s a jail sentence.’
Two men, aged 18 and 20, were arrested in relation to the incident and are due to appear before a court next month for Public Order and Road Traffic offences.
A Garda Representative Association spokesman told the Mail it would like to see members issued with ‘more protective equipment’. ‘We are given stab-proof vests to wear and we’re permitted to use ASPs (batons) and pepper spray but it’s vital that the use of Tasers is seriously examined as a deterrent for front line members.’