by Andrew Carey
A 19-year-old man has claimed he was assaulted by two off-duty Gardaí because they couldn’t find prostitutes during a Christmas night out in Limerick.
Luke Morrisson told Limerick District Court that the Dublin-based Gardaí tried to force their way way into his home at Upper Cecil Street in Limerick, and later assaulted him and his brother after asking where they could find prostitutes.
He said he didn’t know if the apartment building where he lived was used as a brothel but he was aware “there had been a lot of bad press in the area” about prostitutes.
David Naughton, with an address in Lucan, Dublin and Wesley Kenny of Sandyford, Dublin 18 deny assaulting Luke Morrison and his brother, James Morrison at Catherine Street, Limerick on December 5 last year.
In the case before Judge Grainne O Neill,
The court was shown CCTV evidence of a fight outside Flannery’s Pub in Catherine Street on the evening of December 5 when Luke Morrison said that he and his brother were beaten up. Earlier that evening the two men who attacked him tried to gain entry to his apartment but he had stopped them. They were drunk and looking for “brazzers” which he took to mean prostitutes.
He met the two off duty Gardai later that night outside Flannery’s pub on Catherine Street as he was walking to a fast food outlet with his brother, James.
He said the off duty officers put their hands up stating “we’re just looking for brazers, no trouble lads.”
He told them there were no prostitutes on his road and they weren’t to come knocking on his door again. He didn’t know they were Gardaí until the assault happened and a Garda badge was “shoved in his face”.
He said one of the men shouted “Garda business. Fuck off” and heard the words “don’t fuck with the Guards ” when he was getting a beating.
The witness also claimed the accused men shouted “drop the needle, drop the needle” which implied he had something on him, and they also falsely accused him and his brother of trying to rob them.
After repeatedly denying that he was waving a bread knife when he came down from his apartment, Luke Morrisson left the witness box and said he was sick of it and was leaving the court. He also denied under cross examination by defence Counsel Breffni Gordan, he had used drugs in the hours leading up to the assault, or that his apartment was used for the taking of drugs.
Mr Morrisson was persuaded to return to the witness box for the afternoon session to allow cross examination continue.
His girlfriend Ashley Moore said she saw the two accused men in a drunk and rowdy state trying to get into the apartment.
“They said something about brazzers. I didn’t know at the time it was prostitutes”, she said.
