'Naive' TikTok Punjabi video maker had imitation gun in Cork city pub

Gardaí received a call that a male witness had observed the defendant with a firearm in the toilet of the Old Oak Bar on Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork.

A music video maker who bought an imitation semi-automatic pistol for the Punjabi remixes he was putting on TikTok was “naïve in the extreme” to put the imitation weapon on top of a urinal when he was in a Cork city pub.

Judge Joanne Carroll made this comment about Ashish Douglas John’s naivety when she gave him the benefit of a dismissal under the Probation of Offenders Act for what would have been his first conviction of any kind.

The 35-year-old residing at Buttery Court, Mallow, County Cork, cooperated totally with the garda investigation and was never in any kind of trouble, solicitor Shane Collins-Daly said at Cork District Court.

Judge Carroll said: “It was naïve in the extreme to walk into any licensed premises and put this on a shelf in a public bar and it looked like a very good imitation of a firearm.”

 However, the judge acknowledged the submissions made by Mr Collins-Daly and the consequences for the accused of a conviction for such a matter. Judge Carroll said that if a €100 contribution was made by the defendant to the Cork Life Centre then the charge would be dismissed.

In the course of the case, the judge asked Sergeant Gearóid Davis if he had any reason to doubt that the 35-year-old bought the imitation gun for a Punjabi music video on TikTok. The sergeant said he had not seen the video. Judge Carroll acknowledged then that this was not what the sergeant did in his spare time.

Witness

Outlining the background, Sgt Davis said that before 8pm on September 1, 2022, gardaí at Anglesea Street received a call that a male witness had observed the defendant with a firearm in the toilet of the Old Oak Bar on Oliver Plunkett Street.

“CCTV footage showed him standing at the urinal and placing what appeared to be a semi-automatic pistol on top of the urinal while he is urinating and conversing with another man at the urinal.

“With the assistance of multiple garda units, a search of the city was conducted and Ashish Douglas John was located in the smoking area of another premises.

“He said it was an imitation and was in his hotel room nearby. Gardaí recovered the realistic imitation firearm.

“He made full admissions. He outlined he purchased it at a store in Cork city and had no criminal intention whatsoever.

“He told gardaí he was making Punjabi music remixes and TikTok videos and purchased the imitation firearm for use in one of the music videos.

“He recalls taking it out while he was in the toilet of the Old Oak and reassuring the individual that it was not real and he didn’t want to frighten him,” Sgt Davis said.