Woman spared jail for ‘fairly ferocious attack’ on female garda

A woman who was never in trouble before was ordered to do community service yesterday for what a sentencing judge described as “a fairly ferocious attack” on a garda.

Gillian McCarthy, 28, of Glendooneen, Riverstick, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting Garda Claire Sheehan — the first time at Patrick St, Cork, and later at the Bridewell Garda Station where she attempted to bite the officer’s face.

Judge Leo Malone said he would take the second assault into consideration but, on the more serious assault charge which took place on the street, he was imposing a 160-hour community service order instead of four months in prison.

Solicitor Diane Hallihan said the defendant was keen to travel to America and was anxious to avoid a conviction, if at all possible.

She said the defendant had no memory of the assaults due to her intoxication. Ms Hallihan said McCarthy had no previous convictions and had apologised profusely for her actions.

Judge Malone said gardaí were entitled to perform their duty without being assaulted and the courts had a duty to take a serious view on such assaults. He refused the defence application to dismiss the charges under the Probation of Offenders Act.

Ms Hallihan said, while McCarthy was pleading guilty to the charges, she was “surprised” to find herself before a criminal court.

Judge Malone said she was in court for “a fairly ferocious assault”.

Inspector Bill Duane said McCarthy violently resisted arrest at Patrick St, Cork, at around 9pm on Apr 7, 2012.

“Garda Claire Sheehan was assisting colleagues and she received a kick in the head and stomach from Gillian McCarthy as she was being placed into the cage of the personnel carrier. She also tried to pull Garda Sheehan into the cage causing Garda Sheehan to bang her head off the door.

“At the Bridewell, having calmed down and shown remorse for her actions at Patrick St, she had her handcuffs removed to go to the bathroom. But she again became extremely aggressive and violent and again assaulted Garda Sheehan by grabbing her by the hair and attempting to pull her to the ground and attempting to bite her in the face,” Insp Duane said.