Limerick man fined for abusing garda sergeant who seized friend's car
A YOUNG man who verbally abused a garda sergeant calling him an ‘ignorant pr***’ after he seized his friend’s car was convicted of public order offences following a contested hearing at Kilmallock Court.
Callum McCarthy, aged 23, who has an address at Tankardstown, Kilmallock had denied the charges which related to an incident outside Kilmallock garda station on March 5, 2021.
Sergeant Martin Concannon told the court he seized a vehicle under the Road Traffic Act at around 12.30pm as the driver (not Mr McCarthy) did not have insurance.
The vehicle, he said, was then brought to the local garda station and a towing-truck was contacted to remove it to a secure facility.
Judge Patricia Harney was told the driver and two other men presented at the public office of the garda station around half an hour later seeking to have the car returned.
While the driver indicated he had insured the car shortly after he was stopped, Sgt Concannon said the “tow-wagon had already been summonsed” and was en-route.
While the three men, who were aggressive, left the garda station, they returned when the truck arrived.
Sgt Concannon described how Mr McCarthy then became “extremely agitated and aggressive” as he sought to have the car released.
He said the defendant was directed to stop and leave the area but that “the abuse continued as the car was loaded up”.
A witness told Inspector Pat Brennan that during the confrontation Mr McCarthy “pointed his index finger near my face” and that he called him a “pr***” adding: “Your are only in this town - only a month – and I won’t forget you”.
The defendant, who was not known to Sgt Concannon at the time, failed to give his name and address when asked but was later identified.
Solicitor Kevin Power submitted the incident would not have happened had Sgt Concannon excercised some discretion when informed by the owner of the car that he had taken out insurance.
“What was the need to impound the car?” he asked.
In his evidence, the defendant, who has no previous convictions, accepted he had called the sergeant an ‘ignorant pr***’ but denied raising his voice or making threats.
Insp Brennan put it to the witness that his behaviour was “abusive, unpleasant and provocative” and that it was “always going to cause a problem”.
In a submission to the court, he said the seizure of the car “was no business” of Mr McCarthy’s and he asked Judge Harney to note it was driver who had paid the release fee.
Having considered the evidence, Judge Harney commented “the facts are the facts”. The said the defendant had exhibited “a sense of entitlement” and that he was “not entitled to abuse anybody – particularly gardai in the middle of a pandemic.”
She imposed fines totalling €150.