Assaulted officer at courthouse

A WICKLOW man who assaulted a prison officer while in custody was handed a prison sentence at Arklow District Court last Wednesday.

Glen Murphy with an address at Barndarrig, Wicklow, was charged with the assault of Officer Colm Lynham at Arklow District Court, Parade Ground, Arklow, on March 15, 2017.

The court heard that the accused was in the custody of the Irish Prison Service on another matter and, after he had been brought to the toilet, was approached by a number of relatives.

Murphy was handcuffed to Mr Lynham at the time and when he was reminded that no contact was allowed, the court heard that he ‘violently pulled back’ his hands which left the officer with a sharp pain in his wrist and arm.

Medical reports were submitted to the court and Mr Lynham explained that he was on the mend, but receiving physio due to ongoing pain.

Solicitor for Murphy, Pauric Hyland explained that his client regrets his actions, which came about during a period of ‘ heightened stress’.

In evidence, Murphy said that believed he heard one prison officer tell him to ‘stay put’ which he did, but said that he understood that the order was directed to the relatives who approached him instead.

He said that when he was on the way back to the prison van he was asked a lot of questions by a number of people which confused him and said that it was a ‘misunderstanding’. He apologised to the injured party and to the court. The 34-yearold father of two, the court heard, is attending the local job club with a view to starting a course in cabinet-making later this year. Judge David Kennedy said that he takes the assault of a front line officer very seriously and therefore had to impose a custodial sentence.

Judge Kennedy sentenced Murphy to nine months in prison, with the final six months suspended.