Man who allegedly held dog up to gardaí and shouted ‘get them, Buster’ gets suspended sentence

A man who stood trial accused of assaulting two gardaí after allegedly arming himself with a claw-hammer and a dog called Buster has been given a suspended sentence for resisting arrest.

Brian Farrell (40) had denied charges of assaulting gardaí and possession of a claw hammer and knuckle duster at Sallynoggin Road, Dublin on October 16th, 2016.

Two days into the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court trial last month, he pleaded guilty to two counts of resisting arrest in relation to the incident, which was acceptable to the prosecution.

Gardaí­ told the trial that Farrell, of Longford Villas, Sallynoggin, Dublin put up the most determined resistance to arrest that they had ever encountered.

Sentencing him on Friday, Judge Martin Nolan said he was “sorely tempted” to imprison Farrell.

“He behaved disgracefully and made life miserable for a lot of people,” Judge Nolan said.

However, he accepted the incident occurred four years ago and that Farrell has not been in trouble since then. He handed down a four-month sentence and suspended it on a number of conditions.

The court heard Farrell has seven previous convictions, including assault. Most of these date back 10 years.

The court heard gardaí were called to the scene on the night in question after a woman reported that her door had been damaged with dog faeces.

During the trial, Garda Garvan Allen alleged that when he and his colleagues called to Farrell’s door, he emerged from the house holding a pit bull terrier dog aloft by the scruff of the neck in one hand. Gardaí­ said Farrell was shouting: “Get them Buster, bite them Buster, help me Buster.”

Farrell denied there were any dogs present that night.

When the trial ended following Farrell’s guilty pleas, Judge Nolan told the jury he was sorry the trial was over.

“I was curious to know in relation to Buster: Was Buster there or not? That was the mystery in my mind,” the judge said.

On Friday, he ordered Farrell to pay €1,000 as a token of his remorse to go to a charity of Gda Allen’s choosing.

“You’re a lucky man (in that) you pleaded guilty,” the judge told him.