Man cleared of attack on gay pub
A MAN has been cleared of scrawling homophobic graffiti on one of Dublin’s best-known gay bars.
Eoin Berkeley, 24, from Hamptonwood Way, Finglas, pleaded not guilty to causing criminal damage with chalk graffiti on the facade and panels at the George Bar in the early hours of May 20 last year.
He was alleged to have written homophobic slurs, including ‘fa **** s out’ and ‘fa **** bar’.
The trial, at Cloverhill District Court, heard that Berkeley, who has been receiving psychiatric treatment, was arrested shortly after the graffiti attack.
Although he was alleged to have admitted the crime to gardaí, the case was dismissed following legal arguments made by Berkeley’s defence solicitor Tony Collier.
Garda Lorcan Murphy, of Pearse Street, told the court that as well as the homophobic graffiti, a swastika was also drawn on the front of the bar in chalk. After watching CCTV footage from the bar, gardaí arrested Berkeley in the vicinity.
Garda Murphy said Berkeley ‘made full admissions that it was him on the CCTV and it was him that wrote these words and images on the front of the George pub’.
Mr Collier contended that the case had to be thrown out due to gaps in evidence, such as the lack of CCTV evidence.
He said the sergeant who authorised the detention of his client had not come to court to give evidence and that any admissions were therefore inadmissible.
Dismissing the case, Judge Victor Blake said the arguments made by the defence solicitor were correct.
Berkeley has 23 previous convictions, including weapons offences, such as possession of knives and a realistic imitation firearm.
Berkeley had been in prison on remand since July, when his bail was revoked.
He was found guilty of using threatening, words or behaviour likely to cause a breach of the peace during a separate incident outside a bar at Eustace Street in Dublin 2 on June 29 last year.
The judge Blake imposed a twoand-a-half month sentence, which was backdated to the date when he went into custody, meaning that his time has already been served.