Egyptian man deported after swinging screwdriver at shop security guard

The 38-year-old pleaded guilty and was remanded on bail, but was removed from the State on January 15

The court in Dublin heard the accused lacked an address, having lost his hostel place when a recording of the confrontation surfaced online.

A 38-year-old Egyptian man who swung a screwdriver at a supermarket security guard has been deported.

Mohamed Kaness, formerly of Gardiner St, Dublin, was charged at Dublin District Court after footage was uploaded to social media.

Kaness was accused of unlawful possession of a flathead screwdriver as a weapon and producing an implement capable of causing serious injury at Lidl on Talbot St on August 7, 2025. 

Following adjournments, he later pleaded guilty and was remanded on bail pending sentence, with a probation report to be furnished to the court at his next hearing.

The case resumed on Friday when Judge Michele Finan asked if the accused was present.

Defence solicitor Luke Staines said Kaness was not in court because he had been deported to Egypt. 

He suggested that the case be struck out.

The court sergeant confirmed that the accused had been removed from the State on January 15. 

In light of that, Judge Finan made no further order.

At his previous hearing, Garda Paul Mooney objected to bail; he cited witness interference concerns and quoted an excerpt from Kaness's interview: "I’m not going to leave them alone."

During his interview, gardaí asked what he would do then, to which he allegedly replied, “If you don't do it, your job, I want to report him, it's only two bottles, and I was going anyway."

The Store Street-based officer said that the man made no reply when charged with two counts under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act.

The garda mentioned that the accused lacked an address, having lost his hostel place when a recording of the confrontation surfaced online.

Describing the incident, Garda Mooney said he and colleagues responded to a report initially stating there was a man with a knife in the supermarket who had been held by security.

The court heard that Kaness had a broad-headed screwdriver and "was swinging this implement at security, that is why he was being detained".

The defence stated that English was not the accused's first language, but he had agreed to reside with a friend in the Dublin 7 area, provided he stay away from specific locations.

Kaness, who was granted legal aid, was ordered to sign on five days a week at a Garda station, provide gardaí with his new address, and remain away from Talbot St and his former hostel.