Garda used as ‘human shield’ from hatchet teen

One garda was used as a “human shield” from a hatchet-wielding 16-year-old while gardaí were powerless to prevent another man slashing his victim 11 times across the face and back with a Stanley knife in broad daylight.

At Ennis Circuit Court yesterday, counsel for the State, Stephen Coughlan BL said “chaos and mayhem” ensued at the Maid of Erin roundabout in Ennis in an violent incident sparked by a 46-year-old man ramming three vehicles — including a Garda patrol car — with a 10-year-old boy in the back of the ramming vehicle.

Det Garda John Casey said that Bernard McDonagh, formerly of Ashline, Ennis, drove around the roundabout 10 times against traffic before ramming his car into a stationary patrol car.