Corkman gives garda the middle finger at sentencing after apologising for assaulting him

Simon Quilligan had punched the garda three times during arrest

Garda O’Brien said: “Since the assault on me by Simon Quilligan I have attended my general practitioner on various occasions complaining of severe headaches/migraine."

A 31-year-old Cork man apologised during a sentencing hearing to the garda he assaulted but as he was taken away to start a four-year sentence he gave the injured officer a middle-finger gesture.

Simon Quilligan apologised to Garda Ken O’Brien when he was being sentenced at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. It was made through his defence barrister, Donal O’Sullivan, who said of Quilligan: “He knows the guard, he is sorry, he apologises.” 

Garda O’Brien described how he had served the last six years as warrants officer at Anglesea Street, Cork. “I have tried to have a good relationship with every person I execute warrants against and I have always treated them with respect and certain understanding of their circumstances. I have always treated Simon Quilligan fairly and with respect.

“Since the assault on me by Simon Quilligan I have attended my general practitioner on various occasions complaining of severe headaches/migraine. I get a severe headaches/migraines on a daily basis and they can cause me to vomit and retreat to a dark room to ease the pain. My GP referred me to a neurologist for investigation of this as a result of the assault on me.

“Simon Quilligan’s actions and assault on me has caused a lot of stress and worry on both myself and my family,” Garda O’Brien said.

Judge Helen Boyle said to the accused: 

Garda O’Brien has always treated you with respect. It is not unreasonable for him to expect the same from you. This injury has caused him a lot of stress and worry. 

"I have no doubt this assault had a serious impact on the wellbeing of Garda O’Brien and his family.

“You have a significant number of previous convictions. You have previous in relation to police officers. I accept you had a dysfunctional and unstable upbringing. You were homeless for a period. You had significant involvement of social workers throughout your life. You started abusing drugs at the age of 13.

“This offence of assault causing harm is at the upper end of the scale.” The judge imposed a sentence of four years and nine months with the final nine months suspended.

Sergeant Seán O’Donoghue outlined the background to this incident. Garda Ken O’Brien went at 9.30am on November 7 to St Vincent’s hostel on Anglesea Terrace, Cork, to arrest Simon Quilligan on a bench warrant that was issued on November 1 for failing to appear in Cork District Court in relation to another matter.

When Garda O’Brien informed the accused of the warrant for his arrest, Quilligan told him: “You can stick your bench warrant up your hole.” By the time they were leaving the hostel it was not necessary to handcuff him as he was behaving normally and he got into the back seat of the patrol car. 

However, he said that the defendant soon afterwards tried to get out the window of the car when he found the back door was locked. Simon Quilligan then got into the front of the car and punched him three times in the face. 

Outside the car there was a struggle and Garda O’Brien called for urgent assistance. The accused threatened to kill Garda O’Brien. The sergeant said eight gardaí arrived to assist in the arrest, but even at that stage Quilligan continued to resist and behave unco-operatively throughout the prolonged incident.

Sergeant O’Donoghue said: “He is known to be violent and unpredictable. It is acknowledged that he has a drug dependency. He has 12 previous convictions for assault and three for assault causing harm.” 

In addition, he had a conviction for assaulting a police officer, one for obstructing an officer and four for failing to comply with a direction from an officer.

Simon Quilligan said previously that he was frustrated when he heard about the warrant that had been issued for his failure to appear as he had been unable to attend the particular court on November 1.