A 25-year-old man who, when intoxicated, broke into a bar in Ballina to get more drink and when confronted by gardaí resisted violently and bit one of the gardaí on the hand, was before Ballina District Court on Tuesday.
Gardaí received a call that two people were spotted entering The Pub, John Street, Ballina at 4.15am on December 10 2009. Garda Michael Flaherty was one of the gardaí who went on foot to the scene where he observed the front door of the premises ajar and the light from a torch shining out.
Gary Moyles, 48 St Patrick’s Estate, Ballina was observed crouching down and when confronted by gardaí the defendant, who was highly intoxicated, resisted arrest and “during the skirmish” he bit the left hand of Garda Flaherty, which resulted in a small flesh wound. Assistance arrived and the defendant was arrested.
The garda observed that the window of The Pub was broken, the cost of which to fix was €100.
Solicitor Peter Loftus, who represented Moyles, said that the unemployed man, who has previous convictions, was intoxicated on that night and he, alongside another, decided to break into the premises to get more drink. Nothing was taken from the premises and the defendant has not drunk since the incident. As for biting the garda, Moyles did not remember the incident, and showed remorse when he was told of his actions.
Judge Mary Devins said to the defendant: “You drank to such an extent that you didn’t know if you were human, animal, or vegetable.”
For assaulting the garda, Moyles was convicted and fined €750 and remanded on continuing bail to April 27 for a community service assessment report when, if deemed suitable, he will complete 120 hours of community service in lieu of three months in prison. The Section Two criminal damage charge was taken into consideration.
