Man challenged garda to fight

A young man squared up to a member of An Garda Siochána at the height of a melee outside the Savoy in Cork City and wanted him to have a fight.

Insp Michael McGuire said a large number of young people were outside the Savoy at 2.20am on Apr 28 and gardaí were dealing with a number of fights between young people.

The inspector said in the case against Jonathan Maguire of 9 Ardcarrig, Glyntown, Glanmire, Co Cork, “He jumped out in front of Garda Xiao Ma. He raised his fists and shouted, ‘Come on, yeah, fight me.’

“He then grabbed Garda Ma’s lower arms and refused to let go. There was a strong smell of intoxicating liquor from his breath and his eyes were glass. He had to be pepper-sprayed and handcuffed. The use of pepper-spray sorted him out,” said Insp McGuire.

Jonathan Maguire pleaded guilty to the charges of engaging in threatening behaviour and being drunk and a source of danger.

Defence solicitor Eddie Burke said: “He was in a crowd outside the Savoy. There were other people egging him on. What became an act of bravado got out of hand. He apologised to the guard afterwards when he came to his senses. He was at a crossroads in his life at the time and has not been drinking since and is now attending three to four AA meetings every week.”

Judge Leo Malone fined the 22-year-old €450 at Cork District Court.