Man in knife threat to gardaí

A MAN brandishing three carving knives threatened officers in the public office of a garda station.

The 37-year-old walked in to Carlow Garda Station early on Tuesday. He had the three knives in his hands and began screaming at the gardaí on duty.

A member of the public who was in the office fled as the man, who is said to have been in a highly agitated state, walked in.

This is the second incident within a week where a person entered the public office of a station and threatened members on duty with weapons.

Last Saturday, members of the armed Emergency Response Unit were deployed and an area around Shankill Garda Station in Dublin sealed off after a young man walked in carrying what looked like a handgun. It was later found to be a pellet gun.

The incidents have re-ignited fears over security within stations. In recent years, one garda has been killed in a station attack while on another occasion a man walked into a Dublin city centre facility and shot himself in the head.

Garda HQ said security is reviewed on a daily basis and personnel deployed as necessary. But senior gardaí insist stations will not be turned in to fortresses and say security concerns have to be balanced with public accessibility.

In the latest incident, the man walked into the station shortly after 1am. There were four gardaí, uniformed and detectives, in the station at the time, along with a member of the public.

According to a Garda spokesperson, the man had three carving knives. He then apparently left the station and returned a moment later, with a kitchen knife holder in his hand and another blade.

He threatened the gardaí on duty and there was a tense stand-off as attempts were made to calm him down. After some negotiation, the man was disarmed, the spokesperson said. No one was injured.