313 charged over breaches of Garda Covid restrictions

GARDAÍ have been spat or coughed on in a threatening manner 112 times since new Covid-19 restrictions were brought in 11 weeks ago.

In addition, gardaí have interacted with the public more than one million times to check Covid-19 compliance and some 313 people are facing court and a criminal conviction over failure to abide by the law.

The force said it continues to interact with the public on a daily basis, with the vast majority of people adhering to the public health guidelines.

The Garda figures, from April 8 until June 20, also show that gardaí have used socalled ‘spit hoods’ 73 times when dealing with prisoners taken into custody.

The hoods are placed over a suspect’s face and are used by officers ‘as a last resort’ where they feel there is a ‘threat of spitting posed by the subject’, according to gardaí.

However, the plastic devices have been criticised by human

Concerned: Drew Harris rights groups as dangerous and debasing.

‘Gardaí continue to be subject of despicable spitting and coughing attacks. This remains a concern for the organisation,’ Commissioner Drew Harris said yesterday.

In addition, some 313 people are facing court and a criminal conviction over failure to adhere to Covid-19 restrictions over the same period.

Gardaí say that of the 313 people who refused to comply with the regulations, some were arrested while others had their name and address details taken. Two people were detained after consulting a relevant medical professional. Gardaí said arrest remains a ‘last resort’.

In 94 of these incidents to date, a charge or summons has been issued. In another 25 incidents, the DPP directed no charge. Most incidents involve a single individual but some have resulted in charges against multiple people, gardaí say. The remainder are under criminal investigation.

Commissioner Harris added: ‘We are still in phase two so it is important that the very good compliance with the public health guidelines that we have seen so far continues. We all still need to stay local, not make unnecessary journeys, and maintain social distancing to help reduce the spread of Covid-19.

‘At the outset of the Covid19 situation, I said that An Garda Síochána will continue to operate as a communitybased policing service with a focus on protecting the vulnerable. This approach will not change.’ Meanwhile, preexisting enforcement powers were used in 2,127 incidents where other offences were disclosed in the course of Covid-19 operations.

These range from incidents such as drink driving or disqualified drivers detected at checkpoints, to drugs and weapons seizures, to public order offences.

Meanwhile, the Garda National Vetting Bureau (GNVB) has processed 34,392 vetting applications for Covidrelated roles since March 12. This includes applications across medical and healthcare roles, and voluntary groups. GNVB is fully up-to-date with all vetting applications and the turnaround time for vetting applications is one day.

On June 8, gardaí no longer had the power to enforce the movement restrictions laid out in the Government’s emergency coronavirus legislation.

Since that date, people can travel anywhere within their own county or up to 20km outside their county.

However, unlike previous versions of the regulations, the latest provisions do not mention a criminal penalty for breaching the movement restrictions.

‘Arrest remains a last resort’