Man convicted after failing to pay €400 into fund

A payment of €400 to the Garda Benevolent Fund could have spared a 41-year-old man his first conviction for assaulting gardaí but it emerged yesterday in court the money was never paid.

This resulted in Krzystof Kwatowski being convicted of assaulting a member of An Garda Síochána and fined €400 and being put on a peace bond in respect of two other counts of assaulting gardaí that were taken into consideration. Inspector Gary McPolin said yesterday that if €400 had been paid to the Garda Benevolent Fund, the judge had indicated that the accused would give him the benefit of a dismissal under the Probation of Offenders Act on the charge of assault and all other charges would be taken into consideration.