Prisoner who head-butted garda in patrol car jailed

A garda was head-butted by a prisoner in a patrol car who also threatened to chop him up and yesterday he was jailed for five months for what the judge described as a vicious assault.

Thomas Higgins, aged 31, of St Vincent’s hostel, Anglesea St, Cork, was convicted of four separate charges arising out of the incident, namely being threatening, being drunk and a danger, refusing to leave the scene of a disturbance and most seriously, assaulting Garda John Deasy.

Judge Olann Kelleher said, “I accept he did not intend to carry on like this but we cannot have this in the city — guards being assaulted and threatened when they are protecting the people of Cork.”