A man who battered and bit his girlfriend’s face after their child’s first Communion because she refused to go home with him that night, before then assaulting two female gardaí, was jailed for a total of seven months this week (February 6 ).
The court heard how four gardaí were called to 30, St Mel’s Terrace at 11.35pm on May 19 to deal with Brian Quinn (32 ), then living at that address, but now of 2 Gracepark Road, Athlone, after his partner reported him for assault.
“Judge, when the guards arrived the defendant was very drunk and shouting in the house. [The named victim] had marks on her face,” said Inspector Aidan Minnock, before submitting photographs of these injuries.
Even though the inspector apologised for the quality of these pictures, when the judge held them up the bite marks on the victim’s cheek were clearly visible.
The inspector went on to explain how Quinn then threw Garda Elizabeth Glennon into the squad car and onto the ground, before running back into his house similarly assaulting Garda Emer Finn, before he was physically restrained by all four gardaí and some judiciously applied pepper spray.
This was Garda Finn’s second serious assault last year, and it occurred only days after she returned to work following the first attack in February, when she was set upon by up to seven youths whilst dealing with a late night party.
“He was still highly aggressive, and was shouting: ‘ Let me f***in’ go, you f**kin’ b*****s’,” continued the Inspector.
He explained how, earlier on the night in question, the injured party and Quinn had been drinking all day, but disagreed when she said she wanted to go to her home at another address.
“Judge, he began to drag her along the ground to his house. He kicked her in the ribs, and bit her cheek,” said the inspector.
“He wanted certain favours, and she refused,” noted the judge.
The inspector told him this was then repeated when they got to St Mel’s Terrace, and then outlined how Quinn was also charged with two counts of shoplifting from Aldi and the 2Euro store on two dates in October.
Quinn had 44 previous convictions, including two for assault, and had been jailed for theft.
“He’s no stranger to the court. He has no qualifications, or prospects, and has been in and out of prison from an early age,” said his solicitor, Mr Padraig Quinn.
“The facts don’t speak well for him, but he accepts he was in the wrong,” Mr Quinn added.
“He showed little regard for the law, and while on bail goes out and commits these assaults,’ noted the judge.
He sentenced Quinn to four months in jail for the assault on Garda Finn, a further two months for the Aldi theft, and a further months for failing to appear in court to answer these charges when first demanded. All other charges were taken into consideration.
