Christmas gift that led to assault of local garda

AFTER eight months off alcohol, a Polish national went off the rails and injured a garda after he got a bottle of whiskey as a Christmas present from his landlord.

Pawel Radny of 11 Mill Road, Killorglin, came before Cahersiveen District Court last week for assaulting a local garda in a patrol car while on route to the station, after gardaí had to be called to his house because he was intoxicated and aggressive.

Mr Radney was subsequently arrested and continued to be aggressive in the patrol car while on route to the station. Garda Ruby was in the rear of the vehicle with Mr Radny, who was asked to cease his behaviour but refused to do so, forcing Gardaí to pull out a baton and hit Mr Radny on the leg to calm him down.

Mr Radny grabbed Garda Ruby’s hand during the incident, injuring the Garda’s thumb, which caused swelling and bruising to his left hand.

Mr Radny’s solicitor, Brendan Ahern, said that Garda Ruby’s injury was at the “lower end of the scale”.

He added that any assault on a garda doing his job is “unforgivable” and that Mr Radny accepts this.

The court heard that Mr Radny has lost his job prior to this incident, having being employed in a Killorglin restaurant.

Mr Ahern said that his client had been off alcohol for eight months but that his landlord had given him a bottle of whiskey for Christmas, and he had drank that.

“He doesn’t remember much,” said Mr Ahern.

Mr Radny apologised to gardaí during the interview and has not drank since the incident occurred.

Mr Radny is now attending AA meetings and is taking his “sobriety seriously”, the court was told. He is now working again as a painter.

“In his 13 years here, this is his only blip on his record,” added Mr Ahern. Judge David Waters said that because it is an assault, it is more serious, and he convicted and fined Mr Radny €500 for assault causing harm to Garda Ruby at Mill Road, Killorglin, on December 23, 2017.