Assault Antidepressants 19/06/2008 Ireland Woman Attacks Two Police Officers Summary:

Paragraph 7 reads:  ""Between November 2005 and August 2006 my client was on anti-depressants. On the day of the christening she hadn't taken any as she hadn't felt the need to but there was a residue in her system and she also consumed a considerable amount of alcohol including ten bottles of Budweiser and vodka. My client hasn't come to garda attention since this incident," he said."



http://www.kilkennypeople.ie/news/Woman-kicked-garda-in-rear.4198652.jp


Woman kicked garda in rear end

Published Date: 18 June 2008
By Mary Cody
A WOMAN who kicked a garda in the rear end and attacked another garda using her nails to claw into him had her case adjourned at the last sitting of Kilkenny District Court.
Judge William Harnett warned her that he was seriously considering sending her to jail for her vicious attack on two members of an Garda Siochana.
Deirdre O'Gorman, 37 Newpark Close pleaded guilty to assaulting Sergeant Victor Isdell and Garda Paul
Coleman at St Marys Lane on September 3, 2006.
Sergeant Isdell told the court that at 12.40am on September 3, 2006 he received a call to attend a serious dispute at St Mary's Lane in the city. "There was between 12 and 14 people inolved in a fight. I observed a number of gardai trying to effect an arrest. The disturbance had calmed down when I observed the defendant kick Garda Paul Coleman who was a student garda at the time in the rear end. It was a forceful kick and Garda Coleman fell forward.
"She then struck me in the face and dazzled me. She struck me three times in the side of the face and when I made an attempt to restrain her she knocked me to the ground. While I was lying on the ground I shouted at her to stop fighting but she kicked me using her legs and her hands and the fight resurrected again. She then lashed out with her hands and her legs and there was a violent struggle. She used her nails and left several pinch marks on my body. She was very violent and difficult to restrain," the sergeant told the court.
Sergeant Isdell described the fight as 'a very serious one' to the court. "Because of the level of aggression involved I do not believe that drink was the only intoxicant involved. The defendant was at a family christening earlier in the day. I have met the defendant, who has no previous convictions since and I accept that these actions were out of character," he added. He also told Judge Harnett that both he and his colleague Garda Paul Coleman had accepted the young woman's apology.
Solicitor Michael Lanigan told the court that his client was a 26-year-old woman who works in a city centre restaurant. "Between November 2005 and August 2006 my client was on anti-depressants. On the day of the christening she hadn't taken any as she hadn't felt the need to but there was a residue in her system and she also consumed a considerable amount of alcohol including ten bottles of Budweiser and vodka. My client hasn't come to garda attention since this incident," he said.
Mr Lanigan added that his client had been caring for two elderly gentlemen until recently and that one of them had passed away earlier this month. "This incident was without precedence and it won't be repeated. She has radically altered her alcohol intake," said Mr Lanigan. Judge Harnett told the court that this type of behaviour incited the weak minded. "This sort of behaviour is what leads to riots and endangers both the public and the gardai. The people of Kilkenny cannot afford these kind of incidents as they will lose their attractiveness for tourists."
The judge adjourned the case until September 9 for the preparation of a probation report. "I am seriously considering a custodial sentence. This sort of utter stupidity cannot be tolerated," he said.

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