The case of a woman who bit a female Garda after a disagreement over a brown substance she wanted to smoke while in custody has been further adjourned.
Jenna Murray Martin (39) of Castlebyrne Park, Newtown Park Avenue, Blackrock pleaded guilty to assault contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act.
A charge of violent behaviour in a Garda station was also taken into consideration.
The Blackrock native, who previously claimed to be a “karate expert” before kicking another woman in the head, bit into the Garda Sergeant’s arm after being told she could not smoke an unknown brown substance.
At a previous hearing of the case, prosecuting counsel Aoife O’Leary BL told the court that Murray Martin, who was produced before Judge Orla Crowe, having been taken into custody by Garda Niamh Kennedy on a bench warrant, was arrested in Ballymun on the 17th of February 2025, on a different bench warrant, and conveyed to Ballymun Garda Station.
Garda Kennedy agreed with Ms O’Leary that when the accused arrived at the station, Sergeant Janice Grey introduced herself as the member in charge.
After Sergeant Grey explained her role to the accused, Murray Martain began to dispute that the bench warrant she was arrested on was in respect of her.
Having made further checks, Sergeant Grey confirmed that the execution of the warrant was accurate, at which point the accused said that she wanted a smoke, a brown substance she had produced from her person in a plastic bag.
When informed she would not be allowed to do so as Sergeant Grey didn’t know what the substance was, the accused “became upset” and was facilitated in calling her solicitor. She then made attempts to have cigarettes dropped into the station for her and became “irate and angry” towards the sergeant when she was shown to a cell, saying, “Eff this, I’m going,” before she fled towards the back door of the station.
When Sergeant Grey grabbed hold of the accused by her clothing, she continued to resist and attempted to scrape her face using her fingernails while Grey attempted to shield her face.
As the struggle continued, it moved towards the back door, and a station alarm was activated, alerting other members.
As Sergeant Grey was holding onto Murray Martin, she bit her on her right forearm, breaking the skin and causing the area to bleed and become swollen.
When other officers heard Grey shout, “She’s biting me!”, the accused was restrained and had to be carried to her cell while behaving in an “extremely aggressive and abusive manner throughout”, the court heard.
After restraints were removed, she tore into the cell mattress, exposing sharp components, Ms. O’Leary said.
The injured sergeant attended the A&E of Beaumont Hospital, where she was treated for tetanus and given Post Exposure Proflexis (PEP) medication.
Sergeant Grey had to attend her GP to have the wound washed and dressed. She was also prescribed antibiotics and pain killers for bruising she suffered to her rib cage, and was unable to work the next day, Ms. O’Leary said.
The court heard that the PEP medication made Sergeant Grey sick, that she was bedridden with bouts of nausea, and that she found it difficult to explain the mark on her arm to her children.
After she was granted bail in respect of the matters, she did not attend court on a previous sentence date, which led to the issuing of a bench warrant.
Murray Martin has three previous convictions, including one for an assault in 2006 in circumstances where she kicked another woman in the head.
The accused’s defending counsel argued that her client was “clearly intoxicated” at the time of the offence at Ballymun Garda station, and that she had informed a friend that she was “unwell” earlier that day.
Murray Martin claimed that an ambulance had been called for her and that Gardaí had arrived at the house before it did. Garda Kavanagh rejected this, saying she had arrested the accused at a green area and “nowhere near” a house.
The accused also claimed to have taken “Tranex” on the day in question, and had “no prior animosity” towards Sergeant Grey, her counsel argued.
She argued that her client’s behaviour had been “rooted in vulnerability and intoxication” and was not the result of “settled malice”.
Murray Martin is a mother of three and attended Newpark Comprehensive in Blackrock.
After he father passed away when she was 14, she began to “experiment” with drugs at 15, the “consequences” of which have “shaped much of her life”, the court heard.
Murray Martin suffers from a “mild form of schizophrenia” and has been in custody since the 2nd of December 2025, having been refused bail by the same court, and wishes to take up residential help, her counsel said.
Today, the case was further adjourned to allow for the accused to “put her best foot forward”.
The court ordered a probation report, and the case was adjourned to the 21st of May next.