A Turloughmore teen who threatened to “blow” the heads off gardai and bury them, and who also assaulted a garda while in a custody cell, will have to wait to September to see what is in store for him.
Nineteen-year-old Gavin Duffy with an address at Grange, Turloughmore, appeared at Galway District Court on Monday and was remanded on continuing bail to September 20 next to await a probation report.
He is charged with failing to comply with the directions of a garda, threatening and abusive behaviour at Central Tavern, Loughgeorge, and with threatening and abusive behaviour and the assault of a garda at Galway Garda Station.
Inspector Pat McHugh told the court that on January 17, 2010, at 2.45am there was a disturbance at the Central Tavern and gardai arrived on the scene to find the defendant in an extremely intoxicated state. They tried to talk to him and directed him to leave the area, however, Duffy refused and told them he would “blow their fucking heads off” and “bury them”.
The inspector said that similar threats were made at Galway Garda Station and Duffy was put into a cell. When a garda went to check on the prisoner at 6.50am Duffy began banging on the cell door, he then grabbed the garda by his tie and fleece and tried to pull him into the cell. The court also heard that Duffy has two previous convictions.
Duffy’s solicitor said that his client had been involved in a traffic accident five to six weeks before and was still on crutches when he went out to the night club on January 17. The court heard that Duffy had been talking to a girl when a person attacked him. Duffy was then ejected from the club by security but without his crutches. The solictor said that Duffy became very annoyed because he was in pain due to the injuries sustained in the accident. He added that when the gardai asked Duffy to leave the area he had already phoned his father to collect him and had been waiting for his lift.
“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said the solicitor
“The following morning he attacked a garda,” replied Judge Aeneas McCarthy.
The solicitor then said that his client has no recollection of the assault but that he wished to apologise profusely to the garda.
