FOR what Judge Tom O’Donnell described as the “appalling performance” of a 21-year-old man who recently received a six month prison sentence for public order offences at an incident outside Supermacs on the Ennis Road, Darren Harty found himself back in front of the same judge on assault charges relating to the same incident where he spat, punched and kicked members of the gardai.
Harty, appearing via video link, and with 38 previous convictions, was charged with two counts of assault of gardai for what Inspector Gerry Horan said was a “very violent and unsavoury incident”.
The accused, with an address at Clondrinagh Halting Site, Ennis Road, was charged with assault following his attempted head butt of Garda O’Brien outside Supermacs at 11.10pm on August 30, of last year.
The evidence detailed the “violent nature” of Harty’s actions during the escalation of a domestic dispute with his partner outside the Ennis Road restaurant.
Inspector Horan told the court, for a second time in as many weeks, that Harty’s violent actions continued in the garda patrol car following his arrest and detention including him kicking out and striking a female garda member in the hand, spitting at her and then stating to her that he was in fact, HIV positive.
Having already cleared up the fact that Harty was not HIV positive, solicitor for the accused, John Devane noted that Harty was due for release on May 21 of this year, and was a 21 year-old married father of three children, including a baby born this year. Harty was “extremely apologetic” and “terribly sorry for the incident with the female garda and for putting her through the turmoil related to spitting incident”.
Judge O’Donnell said that this was an “appalling and totally unnecessary incident”, but he gave credit for the early plea of guilty in the matter.
For the two assault charges before the court, Judge O’Donnell convicted and sentenced Daniel Harty to two six-month-prison sentences that would run concurrently, extending his period of detention by over one month.
