Man tried to incite crowd of drinkers to ignore garda warnings at Cork courthouse

The courthouse at Washington street in Cork.

A drunken crowd sitting on the steps of the courthouse on Washington Street in Cork was incited to ignore the instructions of gardaí to leave the area in the early hours of the morning.

 Kevin Varian, aged 20, of 50 Larchfield, Commons Road, Cork, called on others present to stay where they were and disregard gardaí.

Sergeant Pat Lyons said at Cork District Court that the incident occurred at 2am on June 13, 2021, at Washington Street, Cork.

Abusive crowd

“Detective Garda Liam Lingane was on duty with the southern region public order unit and he observed a large crowd drinking and causing a disturbance in front of the courthouse.

“The crowd was acting in an abusive manner and spilled out across the footpath onto the road.

“The majority of the crowd were drinking from open alcohol containers and were intoxicated. A direction was issued to the crowd to desist and leave immediately.

“Det Garda Lingane personally directed Kevin Varian to leave. He was also being led away by a female friend but he began shouting to the crowd, ‘Wait. Fuck them. Stay here.’ 

“He then punched the window of a parked car. The owner of the car got out and Kevin Varian screamed at him, ‘Fuck you. I’ll do what I want. Fuck off. I’m warning you.

“Det Garda Lingane approached Mr Varian who attempted to incite the crowd by shouting, ‘Fuck off. Don’t let them arrest me. Fuck them. Come on’,” Sgt Lyons said.

False address

He was arrested and taken to the Bridewell garda station where he initially gave a false address and date of birth.

Defence solicitor Eddie Burke described the defendant as a naïve young man who had some difficulties at the time. He stressed that the 20-year-old had no previous convictions.

Judge Olann Kelleher said that but for the absence of any previous convictions the defendant would have been given a prison sentence for his behaviour on the occasion. The judge fined him €200 for his threatening behaviour, and €100 each for drunkenness and giving false details.