Man accused of threatening Brown Thomas staff in Cork with broken bottle

The court heard the defendant claims he was never at Brown Thomas or in the area immediately outside it or had any altercation with staff there on June 29

Wed, 05 Jul, 2023 - 19:19

Liam Heylin

Staff at Brown Thomas in Cork were threatened by a man who armed himself with the broken neck of a bottle outside the store, it was claimed during a bail application.

Ian O’Sullivan, who is aged around 50 and presently living at Cork Simon Community, applied for bail and denied all charges against him saying he was not there on June 29—the date of the alleged incident.

Garda Dave Tobin objected to bail being granted to the accused man on charges of having a broken bottle, engaging in threatening behaviour and theft from Brown Thomas. He said that one of the grounds for the objection to bail was the seriousness of the alleged offence.

“It is alleged that the accused was captured on CCTV taking two bottles of fragrances to a total value of €207 and that outside the premises he had the broken neck of a smashed bottle and he was acting in a threatening manner to security staff.

It is alleged he was threatening, abusive to the security staff and that he returned multiple times to the store in an aggressive and intoxicated manner.

Joseph Cuddigan, solicitor, said on behalf of Ian O’Sullivan: “He will maintain he was never at Brown Thomas or in the area immediately outside it or had any altercation with staff of Brown Thomas on June 29.”

The defendant was then called to give evidence and he also denied the charges. He denied the charges and said he was not in that store or in that area on June 29. “I had no interaction with staff,” he said.

Judge Olann Kelleher refused the application for bail and remanded the accused in custody until July 12 when he will appear in court by video link from prison.

Charge sheets refer to the threatening behaviour and bottle charge on June 29 and the theft from the store as July 3.