A 16-YEAR-old boy entered a packed courthouse yesterday armed with a sword.
A fight broke out in the foyer of Limerick Circuit Court between members of two Traveller families.
The teenager ran towards a group of people waving the sword and up to 20 gardaí intervened to break up the fight involving about eight people.
There were dozens of people in the hallway of the court during the incident and upwards of 400 people in the vicinity of the court house yesterday where Judge Carroll Moran was dealing with over 100 District Court appeals, along with 52 other matters listed for mention.
The teenager was disarmed by Garda Tony Grey assisted by Garda Philip Ellard. He was taken to Henry Street Garda station with two other people arrested following the fight.
The fracas broke out at about 11.30am shortly after members of a west Limerick Traveller family left the court building following a brief hearing concerning public order and criminal damage offences.
They were about to leave the building when they returned inside after spotting two members of a rival family approaching them.
It is understood the 16-year-old had hidden the sword in his pants before he took it out and began swinging it at his target.
Gardaí were last night examining CCTV footage from inside the court building.