Mayor: I was punched as I went to help attacked girl but onlookers just filmed it on mobiles
Assailant said he had a knife
‘I’m used to getting a few belts’ Garda suffered elbow injury
THE MAYOR of Galway City has told how he was punched in the face when he came to the rescue of a teenage girl being attacked at the weekend – while people stood back and filmed it on their mobiles phones.
Councillor Niall McNelis said he ran in to help the girl, who was being assaulted by a man claiming to have a knife.
The Labour Party councillor said he was shocked to see adults filming the attack on the girl without intervening. The mayor immediately told the attacker, who warned Mr McNelis that he had a knife, to let the girl go.
‘I walked up him and I said, “Let her go”. He said to me, “I have a knife” and then he caught me on the hop and punched me in the jaw; there was a brief scuffle and he ran off,’ he said.
Cllr McNelis said he was shocked that nobody else helped and that people continued filming, even after he was punched.
‘Several people, including some men, took out their phones and started filming. I couldn’t believe it,’ he said. ‘That young woman could be anyone’s daughter, sister, partner or whatever, and not only did nobody come to her assistance, but they started filming it on their phones. I was astonished; I would have hoped for more civic spirit and that somebody in difficulty would be assisted.’
He added: ‘There were a lot of people there but nobody else intervened apart from one woman who rang the gardaí and they were on the scene within minutes.’
The mayor was not badly injured in the attack on Friday evening and while he ended up with a sore jaw, he did not require medical attention.
He said: ‘I used to play rugby so I’m used to getting a few belts. I was a bit shook, but thankfully it was just my ego that was bruised.’
The young girl was not seriously injured and was brought home by gardaí, who arrived at the scene within eight minutes.
The attacker – believed to be a well-known street drinker in the city – was later arrested. A file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Irish Daily Mail has learned that he is due to appear in court.
However, one person said they saw the man back out on the same street on Saturday – the day after the attack.
Cllr McNelis pointed out that Galway city has recently been regranted its Purple Flag, which is awarded for management of night-time safety.
‘Galway is a safe place but, like anywhere else, there will be isolated incidents,’ he said.
‘But what shocked me is nobody else came to the young woman’s assistance and nobody else intervened when I was assaulted.’
Cllr McNelis was first elected to Galway City Council in 2009 and became the Mayor of Galway in June of this year.
He is well known for speaking out for the marginalised and homeless and has called for more social housing along Galway’s Docks development.
In a separate incident on Saturday night, a garda was assaulted while making an arrest in Galway city. Again, several bystanders filmed the event.
Gardaí were dealing with an incident on Shop Street when a youth pushed the female officer to the ground, resulting in her suffering an injury to her elbow.
The previous day, a Galway man who attacked several gardaí during an arrest was jailed for 16 months.
Martin Mongan, 27, of St Finbar’s Terrace, Bohermore, fought off gardaí when they came to arrest him on a series of outstanding warrants. When he was captured as he tried to flee, he ripped off his shirt and shouted: ‘I’m going to f ***** g kill you. I’ll take your f ***** g head off.’ He threw two punches, but gardaí wrestled him to the ground.
Figures published in March by the Central Statistics Office show a 13% increase in assaults in the previous year, from 16,640 to 18,803, including a 10% rise in assault causing harm.
It was the first time in nine months that the CSO published Garda statistics following concerns that gardaí were understating crime rates.
The issue of bystanders filming on their phones rather than helping is a growing problem.
There was outrage in Britain late last month after several people filmed a police officer who was injured while chasing a suspect.
West Midlands Police said it was ‘disgusting behaviour’ and that people filmed the officer as he lay helpless on the road. Following the incident, the policeman, who was chasing an off-road bike, was said to be recovering at home from bruising and shock.