A man who assaulted two gardai with a baton he had seized from one of them was given a suspended sentence when he appeared in Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday.
One of the gardai said he had feared for his life. "I believed I was going to die," said Garda Donal Ryan (44) as he described the furious attack by Patrick Downey, who grabbed his baton and hit him around the head in Farnanes, Co Cork, on April 6th, 1997.
Downey, the father of two children, received a five-year suspended jail sentence on pleading guilty to assaulting Garda Ryan and his colleague, Sgt Austin Barrett (56), causing them actual bodily harm.
An earlier sitting had heard that the assault happened when Garda Ryan went to get an alkalyser to take a breath sample from Downey, after he and Sgt Barrett met him on the Farnanes Road and suspected he might have been drinking.
Downey, of Beechville Estate, Coachford, had his wife and children with him in the car and called earlier to Sgt Barrett's home because of a perceived grievance he had with another garda, the court heard.
Judge Moran said the only reason he had not jailed Downey in February 1998 was because of evidence given by his wife, Helen, that she needed him to bring their son, who suffers from a muscular disorder, to a clinic in Cork city each day.
"I have always held the view that anyone who assaulted a guard in uniform deserves a prison sentence. I took a different view in your case because of the appalling strain it would place on your wife and children," he said.
"I think your wife is still very dependent on you, and that's the only thing that's saving you," said Judge Moran, as he sentenced Downey to five years in jail but suspended it for four years on condition he keep the peace.
He also noted an assault by Downey on a furniture shop owner, Mr Jim Murray, in Macroom on August 28th, 1997, after he attacked Mr Murray on being told that a £10 deposit was not refundable.
In April that year, Downey grabbed Garda Ryan's baton after he drew it to protect himself and rained blows on the garda, following him across the roadway as he staggered away dazed, Insp Ted Nolan told the court.
Garda Ryan suffered a broken thumb and injuries which required 14 stitches and spent three days in hospital. While those injuries had more or less healed, Garda Ryan said, he was still receiving medical care for posttraumatic stress disorder and was still out sick from work.
Garda Ryan said he hoped the counselling Downey was receiving for his violent temper would be as helpful as the counselling he himself was receiving. He wished to see a change in Downey's attitude towards the Garda and the public.