Courts

Garda found guilty of assaulting man he believed was taking photos of him and off-duty colleagues

Man tells court he was not photographing the detective and his colleagues in bar but taking selfies instead

21/04/2017 STOCK: The Courts of Criminal Justice on Parkgate St. Dublin Photograph: Dave Meehan/The Irish Times The Criminal Courts of Justice Exterior view CCJ
Garda Robert Hennessy pleaded not guilty to assaulting Michael Finnegan (40) at Café en Seine on Dawson Street on December 11th, 2019. Photograph: Dave Meehan
Tom Tuite
Mon Nov 13 2023 - 19:30

A Dublin-based garda has been found guilty of attacking a man who told a court he was “taking selfies” rather than photographing or recording the off-duty detective and his colleagues during a night out.

Garda Robert Hennessy pleaded not guilty to assaulting Michael Finnegan (40), from Crumlin, who was repeatedly punched in the face at Café en Seine on Dawson Street on December 11th, 2019. The incident was captured on the bar’s security camera system.

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Hennessy, who works in a specialist unit doing surveillance work, was prosecuted at Dublin District Court following a Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) investigation. He did not testify, but told Gsoc he was stressed and feared Mr Finnegan would “out them”.

“It was not the law of the schoolyard or the jungle, and you cannot punch someone four or five times in the head whether you are an intelligence officer or not,” prosecution counsel Diarmuid Collins submitted to Judge John Hughes.

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The judge noted Mr Finnegan catalogued his life through photos which he uploads to social media and said he believed he was surreptitiously observing the gardaí and using his phone to take pictures or videos of them. He noted a barman’s evidence that Mr Finnegan was “more than tipsy”.

The judge said Hennessy was anxious about being photographed on a night out, which could have caused him professional embarrassment or threatened his security, but added that the relevant circumstances did not arise for a case of self-defence, and he could not attack someone for taking photos.

He convicted Hennessy and noted that Mr Finnegan had told Gsoc he did not want the detective to lose his job. Sentencing was adjourned until February 6th.