Courts

Man jailed for knocking garda unconscious during ‘frenzied’ incident in Dublin

Ryan O’Toole (34), from Oriel Street Lower, beat officer as he responded to disturbance he had caused in apartment block

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Ryan O’Toole (34) was heavily intoxicated when he approached Garda Karl Byrne. Photograph: Matt Kavanagh

Tue Feb 20 2024 - 16:06

A man has been jailed for 18 months for repeatedly punching a garda and rendering him unconscious.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Ryan O’Toole (34) was heavily intoxicated when he approached Garda Karl Byrne and asked “what is your f***ing problem?”.

Garda Byrne, who had been standing outside an apartment block because of a disturbance that O’Toole had caused, informed the accused on several occasions that he was a garda.

Sgt Paul Daly told Simon Matthews BL, prosecuting, that Garda Byrne did not want to confront O’Toole and tried his best to calm the situation, but O’Toole came up into his face.

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The garda repeated to O’Toole that he was a garda and told him to back off, but the defendant punched him in the head and continued to swing wildly at him, knocking the garda to the ground.

He continued to punch Garda Byrne as he lay on the ground, leaving him feeling dazed.

Sgt Daly said residents began to gather at this point in an attempt to keep O’Toole away from Garda Byrne. However, O’Toole got the garda into a headlock, lifted him off the ground and threw him back on to the ground. He also bit the garda’s finger.

As the crowd continued to try to keep O’Toole back, garda colleagues arrived and tried to intervene, the court heard. Sgt Daly said it was still difficult to restrain O’Toole, who continued to reach across officers to strike Garda Byrne. The accused eventually knocked the garda unconscious.

The witness said Garda Byrne was found to have a concussion and a fractured nose, though it was not certain if that fracture could be attributed to the assault by O’Toole. Garda Byrne did not prepare a victim impact statement for the case.

O’Toole, of Oriel Street Lower, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm on Fitzgibbon Street in Dublin on December 11th, 2022.

Judge Martin Nolan accepted that O’Toole was “very badly intoxicated” having taken cocaine and was “incredibly aggressive”. He noted that O’Toole had seven previous convictions, but said these were not for serious offences.

“Undoubtedly he deserves a prison term,” Judge Nolan said as he imposed the 18-month sentence.

Sgt Daly agreed with Garrett McCormack BL, defending, that Garda Byrne returned to work two weeks after the assault. He accepted that O’Toole was heavily intoxicated and that it was “frenzied behaviour”.

Mr McCormack said his client is apologetic and accepts there was “no excuse for the level of violence on the day”. He asked the court to accept that his early guilty plea was “a demonstration of his remorse and contrition”. He said his client has since rehabilitated and dealt with the addiction issues he had at the time.

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