Man with hepatitis gets two years for spitting in garda’s mouth

A GEORGIAN man with Hepatitis C who spat blood into the mouth of a garda who came to his aid after he was assaulted was yesterday jailed for two years.

Cork Circuit Criminal Court head that Emzari Shalikashuili, a 34-year-old asylum seeker who lives at St Patrick’s Hill, Cork, had been assaulted and was bleeding from the head and lip. A member of the public had called the ambulance and gardaí.

A the time of the incident, the victim, Garda Leslie Rice, was helping the ambulance crew since Shalikashuili did not want to get into the ambulance.

“I would understand if someone assaulted me when I was arresting him, but I was just trying to help an ambulance attendant to put a bandage on his head wound.

"I cannot understand to this day why he did it. He spat blood into my mouth. He was in a complete frenzy. He was convinced we were all KGB and immigration officers,” Garda Rice said yesterday.

Defence barrister Kieran Hughes said the defendant did not realise at the time that Hepatitis C was a transmittable disease.

Judge Sean O’Donnabhain said: “You are asking me to believe that he did not know that this is a highly transmittable disease. I really believe whether you come from Georgia or Cork everyone realises the dangers of transmitting infected blood. This man was under treatment in Ireland for Hepatitis C.

“He knew the risks he was taking and the risks he was posing for another person. The probation and welfare report does not do him a lot of good.

"His attitude up to April of this year showed a lack of empathy for the victim and a lack of understanding of the seriousness of what he had done. And he is a very well educated man.”

Detective Garda Eamon Fitzgerald said the defendant co-operated in every way with the investigation.

Shalikashuili, who admitted charges of assault causing harm to Garda Rice, said that he did not remember the incident. He had been at a party in Pope’s Quay and was set upon and assaulted at Knapps Square on August 2 last year. He did not make any complaint about the attack on him.

Garda Rice said the nature of the assault had caused him a lot of personal difficulties and he just wanted to have the case over.