A Garda Sergeant was left “lying on a dark road in the Dublin mountains” after he confronted a man who was in possession of drugs during the covid lockdown.
The Circuit Criminal Court heard how Keith Daly (31), of Dun Saithne Crescent, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin assaulted Garda Sergeant Wes Kenny causing injury to his hand and leaving him traumatised to the point that he can no longer perform “confrontational duties” as a serving member of An Garda Síochána.
Garda Natasha McAleese told Judge Orla Crowe how on the night of the assault she and Sgt. Kenny was on patrol in the Rathfarnham area -although the occupants of the car were from Balbriggan -when they noticed a car that appeared to be driving “somewhat erratically”, according to State counsel Pieter Le Vert BL.
At approximately 11:10pm the van the two Gardaí were travelling in along the Killakee Road approached the vehicle from behind before pulling it over.
Garda McAleese got off of the vehicle and approached the driver side, while Sgt. Kenny approached the passenger side where the accused was sitting.
At this point Daly told the Gardaí “stop hassling us” and became “agitated” and opened the car door “in an aggressive manner” to push Sgt. Kenny back.
Daly asked Kenny why he was “harassing” him and the driver while using abusive language which prompted Sgt. Kenny to ask him to “stop swearing”, the court heard.
At this point Daly got of the car and went to lift up his teeshirt, saying “I’ve nothing fucking on me”, however Sgt. Daly noticed a number of small plastic bags sticking out of the top of his bottoms when he did this.
Gda McAleese told the court that the accused has a distinctive tattoo on his torso of “two gnomes or dwarves”, and that he took some of the bags and began to throw them into a wooded area.
At this point Sgt. Kenny went to restrain him in the course of which the accused twisted the Garda’s fingers causing him “severe pain”.
Sgt. Kenny grabbed Daly around the waist but was dragged to the back of the Garda van and thrown on the ground before Daly ran off.
The court heard he dropped a number of bags to the ground as he ran which were found to contain cannabis on examination. 3 bags were recovered as well as 3445 euro in cash.
When the injured Sgt. was brought to hospital, a Dr. Moloney examined his finger and observed that it was “severely swollen” and “ bent inwards towards the palm”.
Daly was identified by a palm print that was found on one of the bags.
After a search warrant was executed on the 7th of April 2021 he was detained and questioned at Tallaght Garda Station on the same date.
He denied any wrongdoing and was “quite angry” saying that on the day in question he was “home in bed” as he had a 9pm curfew, however messages on his phone showed that he had exchanged texts with his partner well after that time in which she has asked him how he was going to get home that night.
“He tried to leave the interview room on several occasions,” Gda McAleese said.
He also claimed that his phone had been “hacked”.
Daly, who was described by his defending counsel as “illiterate” has 55 previous convictions of which 8 are Circuit Court drugs charges, and others for threats to kill and assault causing harm, possession of knives, 12 instances of breaches of the Public Order Act, 3 for violent behaviour in a Garda station, 3 for burglary, 8 for theft, 4 for criminal damage, 6 for road traffic offences, as well as failure to appear before the courts.
In June of 2011 he was convicted for violent disorder in a Garda station where he hit an officer with a closed fist in the face causing injury to his eye area and on the same date made threats to kill in respect of a member of An Garda Síochána.
He was also convicted of a Section 2 assault when he spat in the face of a Garda. Daly also assaulted a Garda by punching him in the face numerous times causing injury to the head and face.
Victim Impact Statement
The injured party, Sgt. Kenny delivered a short victim impact statement before the court in which he said he was now 47 years old and “still serving” as a member of An Garda Síochána.
He described how his finger was “forcibly bent and injured” during the course of his duties and how Daly had “No regard for my safety or my life”.
The accused had turned “vicious and violent” during the encounter with the Sgt who said he “felt my finger snap instantly” when it was bent back towards the palm of his hand.
“He left me lying on a dark road in the Dublin mountains,” he said, adding that to Daly he was “not a person to him, just something in the way”.
He said that the assault had made him aware of “How easily my life can be put at risk” and that he is no longer a uniformed member of the force because of the effect it has had on him.
Sgt. Kenny said that the trauma of the event has affected his “role as a new father of small children” and that his hand was placed in a splint and required physical therapy.
He said that the impact of the assault “wasn’t only physical” and had taken a “psychological toll” which caused him to develop a “heightened fear” of certain situations, although he said that “no one signs up for this job not knowing the risks”.
Daly’s defending counsel expressed her client’s remorse saying that this was surely a “cold comfort” but that the accused wished to convey his “absolute regret” and”remorse “.
She said that most of his Circuit Court appearances were the result of District Court appeals, and that his only real Circuit appearance was in relation to his 2011 assault of a Garda which happened when he had just turned 18.
He has convictions related to crimes he committed at the ages of 10, 11, and 12 yrs old and had a “very troubled childhood” with “no supervision or support,” she argued, adding that both of his parents were addicted to alcohol.
Daly spent a large portion of his childhood in care homes and is “illiterate”, she said.
In recent years there has been a “Great and significant turnaround in his life,” with his partner – whom he has known since childhood – submitting a letter to the court supporting this.
The couple have two children aged 5 and 2 years, with the progress he has made being “rarely seen” in someone who had “such a sad start in life”.
His partner,Yasmin, gave an “upsetting description” of his upbringing being one of “total “neglect”, the court heard.
Daly’s defending counsel asked that the court give credit for his guilty plea “although entered later in the day”.
Judge Crowe noted that the defendant had been “in and out of care” and ordered an assessment by the Probation Services with the case postponed until the 25th of July to structure a sentence.