Poked garda in eye through cell door

A 25-year-old man who assaulted a garda while he was in custody in a cell, has received a suspended sentence.

Dundalk court heard last week that Liam Gray reached through an open hatch and stuck his finger in the right eye of the officer.

Gray, with addresses at Broughton Street and Millstream Apartments, Distillery Lane, Dundalk, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting causing harm arising out of the incident which occurred earlier this year.

He also admitted two public order charges and having a knife with a sharply-pointed blade.

Evidence was given that at 9.40pm on 15 May last gardaí saw two men fighting on the footpath on St Alphonsus’ Road. They separated them.

Gray was arrested and when subsequently searched a small knife concealed in a key-ring was found on him.

When asked to account for it, he said the knife was for ‘cutting cords and cutting cops’.

The defendant was put in a cell at the garda station and when the hatch was opened Gray reached out for the officer’s face and got his finger in the other man’s right eye.

The guard suffered a scrape to his eye and cheekbone.

There are the accused.

Solicitor Peter Lavery said his client was intoxicated on this occasion. In the earlier incident he had been hit over the head by the other party and ‘felt wronged’.

Gray became angry and upset. He shouldn’t have spoken in the manner he did or assault the garda. He didn’t mean to hit his eye. He apologised at the time and was doing so again.

Mr Lavery continued that a tiny key-ring knife six previous convictions against was for no sinister use.

His client had been of good behaviour for the last number of years.

‘ There seems a serious anger issue here,’ Judge McKiernan remarked.

Mr Lavery said Gray had improved greatly. He moved into accommodation with his girlfriend and will have employment with his father when COVID-19 restrictions ended. He was a changed man.

‘What was his intention garda)?’ the judge asked.

The solicitor said his client felt wronged. ‘He wasn’t himself and felt angry at the gardaí.’ He added Gray had come to court with €500 compensation.

The defendant’s mother, Denise, a drugs therapist, testified that she saw her son go through quite a lot. He had underlying issues which were never addressed.

She was disgusted with his behaviour on this occasion, and apologised to the guard ‘as a mother’.

‘I can’t defend his actions.’ However, she added she had seen him ‘grow’ over the last two years, and believed he deserved a chance.

Judge McKiernan noted Liam Gray had a previous conviction for a similar offence when he received a community service order in the circuit criminal court.

She imposed a four-month sentence on the Section 3 assault charge, suspended for 12 months. The other charges were taken into consideration.

‘I don’t want to see him back here again.’ No order was made regarding the compensation. (in assaulting the