Soldier not guilty of assaulting two gardaí

A young Dublin soldier has been found not guilty of assaulting two gardaí at his twenty-first after-party in his home last year.

Naoise O’Conarain, aged 22, had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Garda Andrew Quinn and Garda Fiachra Molloy causing them harm at his home in Redwood Lawn, Kilnamanagh, in Tallaght, on March 10, 2013.

The jury of four women and eight men took one hour and 47 minutes to acquit Mr O’Conarain of both charges.

Earlier this week, Judge Patrick McCartan directed the jury to find the accused not guilty of assaulting three more gardaí due to lack of evidence.

Gardas Quinn and Molloy gave evidence during the trial that Mr O’Conarain attacked them in the bathroom of his home after an initial response to a domestic disturbance emergency call.

Gda Molloy said the soldier punched him in the face during a first incident in the bathroom. Gda Quinn told the court he received up to 30 stitches to his lip after a second bathroom struggle.

Mr O’Conarain’s mother, Olga Howlett, told the court that gardaí had used “uncalled for” language and beat her son.