Uncle and nephew trapped council officials in Garda car, Fermoy court hears

Officials were attempting to serve a summons for unpaid rent

The two men appeared before the court in Fermoy, where they were sentenced to community service. File Picture: Richard Mills.

An uncle and nephew trapped two council officials in a Garda car when they attempted to serve them with a summons for unpaid rent, a recent sitting of Fermoy District Court was told.

Sgt Linda O’Leary told the court that on the morning of February 7, 2023, two female officials from Cork County Council along with an accompanying garda went to Stag Park in Mitchelstown, Co Cork with the intention of serving a summons for non-payment of rent on uncle and nephew John O’Connor, 49, and John Paul O’Connor, 44, of 4 Limerick Road, Kildorrery, Co. Cork.

When they arrived at the address, the summons was handed to John O’Connor who let it fall to the ground. The two men then became abusive towards the officials and the garda and began shouting at them. John Paul O’Connor threw his social security card at the garda and John O’Connor threw the summons back at the council officials.

John O’Connor called one of the officials a “stupid fucking bitch” and told her to get out of the way while John Paul O’Connor shouted that they weren’t taking the summons. The two officials retreated to the Garda car they had arrived in while the two men continued to shout abuse. They also blocked the path of the garda who attempted to get back to the car.

The court heard that John O’Connor was shouting at the two women in the car and also pulled one of their seatbelts while John Paul O’Connor tried to prevent the garda from getting into the car.

John O’Connor said that he and his nephew were “highly intoxicated” on the morning in question and wished to apologise for their behaviour. John Paul O’Connor said that he took “full responsibility” for his behaviour and added that he did not pull the seatbelt.

Judge Colm Roberts said that it was a very serious incident and the two men were lucky that they were only facing an obstruction charge and Section 6 assault, adding: “In other circumstances, you could easily be facing charges for Section 2 assault.” 

The court heard that John O’Connor had five previous convictions including one for obstruction and one for assault and John Paul O’Connor had 10 previous convictions also including one for obstruction and one for assault.

The men were both sentenced to 180 hours community service, 80 hours in lieu of six weeks in prison on the Section 6 assault charge, and 100 hours in lieu of three months in prison on the obstruction charge.