Man stuck cattle needle into off-duty garda

A file is being prepared for the DPP after an off-duty female garda had a cattle needle stuck into her buttock by a man in a busy pub last weekend.

Doctors have put the woman on a medical treatment programme for possible HIV or hepatitis infection and it will be six months before she can be given the all clear; it is understood she has been left with a visible puncture wound.

The man, believed to be a farmer in his 40s, was carrying the needle in his fist and one source said it had a hollow point measuring 1cm.