A 26-year-old Limerick man who made an application in court yesterday for the return of a bullet-proof jacket seized by gardaí exposed his bare buttocks during proceedings before a circuit court judge.
Mr Wayne Dundon, Lenihan Avenue, Prospect, was appearing before Judge Terence O'Sullivan in a civil action at Limerick Circuit Court where he was appealing an earlier ruling by Limerick District Court.
Mr Dundon, who is in custody on a separate issue, was seeking the return of a bullet-proof vest retained by gardaí under the Police Property Act, 1897.
Opposing the appeal, Limerick State solicitor Mr Michael Murray alleged that Mr Dundon and three other men were arrested while pursuing two men named in court as Mr Brian Collopy and a Mr Mason.
Mr Murray put it to Mr Dundon in the witness box that when all four were arrested they had been wearing bullet-proof vests because they were on "active service" as members of the McCarthy/Dundon gang.
Mr Dundon denied knowing that Mr Collopy and Mr Mason had sought refuge in a Garda station; he also denied being a member of any gang and said he was wearing a bullet-proof vest because he had been shot at.
Mr Dundon was asked repeatedly by his defence counsel, Mr Brian McInerney, to speak slowly because Judge O'Sullivan had difficulty understanding his "Limerick accent".
At one stage, Mr Dundon jumped from the bench, bent over, slapped his bare buttocks and said: "See that your honour - that's what the Dundons think of you and the gardaí - f**k you, your honour." Mr Dundon stormed out of the court back to the holding cell.
During a stunned silence, Judge O'Sullivan said he had not been "terribly impressed" by Mr Dundon's evidence and would be foolish to accept it.
He consented to an order from Mr Murray to dismiss the application and rose briefly to consider Mr Dundon's contempt of court.
When Judge O'Sullivan returned he said he didn't want to make "a large issue" of the matter, but he had to deal with the "discourtesy" shown to the court.
The State solicitor said the gardaí intended to prepare a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
However, Judge O'Sullivan said he was only dealing with the matter of contempt in a court of law, where respect was expected.
"I accept that people do tend to get over-excited in a law case, although I haven't seen that level of excitement before," said Judge O'Sullivan.
Mr McInerney told the court his client was under a lot of strain and wished to apologise. "He's under no illusions now that his conduct was grossly unacceptable and he wishes to purge his contempt." Judge O'Sullivan said he accepted the apology and was prepared to let the matter rest.