TWO GARDAÍ have gone on trial after they were charged with failing to report an incident in which a colleague assaulted a young man who had knocked off his hat during late-night revelry in Cork city more than two years ago.
Brendan Daly and Cathal O’Regan, who are stationed at Anglesea Garda station in Cork, are each charged with three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice and three counts of intending to impede the prosecution of a fellow member of An Garda Síochána.
The charges relate to an incident in which James Boyce from Charleville was assaulted by Garda Michael Kiernan after he and a friend, John Casey, were apprehended by the two accused on Hanover Street in Cork at about 3am on February 23rd, 2007.
Both accused are charged that they failed to report a complaint by John Casey, that they failed to report an assault by Garda Kiernan and that they falsely reported that James Boyce had fallen on the footpath when he was assaulted by Garda Kiernan on the day in question.
Garda Kiernan was subsequently charged and pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Boyce, the jury of seven women and five men were told at yesterday’s hearing at Cork Circuit Criminal Court before Judge Con Murphy.
Yesterday, Mr Boyce told how he had knocked off Garda Kiernan’s hat after Garda Kiernan had come over and kicked one of his friends in the shin after they had been messing and pushing against some construction fencing on the Grand Parade.
He ran off with Mr Casey but they were pursued by two gardaí on bikes, the defendants, who stopped them on Hanover Street and proceeded to ask them for their names in a professional manner and he fully expected to be arrested for what he had done.
A patrol car pulled up, Garda Kiernan got out and walked over to him and hit him in the face and he hit the ground and was knocked unconscious momentarily.
When he came round, he was bleeding profusely and was vomiting and was taken by ambulance to hospital.
Insp Pat Cadogan told how he had learned later that day that Garda Kiernan might have been involved in an assault and he interviewed him about the incident at about 10.20pm before interviewing the two defendants at 10.30pm about what happened.
Insp Cadogan said that Garda Daly told him that they had pursued some youths and that they were talking to two of them when one of them fell on to the footpath and injured his head.
When he asked Garda O’Regan if that was correct, he agreed it was.
Neither of them mentioned Garda Kiernan or any assault by him on Mr Boyce, and no more detail was given by either officer, said Insp Cadogan.
He added that he later viewed CCTV footage which showed Garda Kiernan striking Mr Boyce.
However Sgt John O’Donovan said he was present when Insp Cadogan interviewed the two defendants.
He said recalled them saying that Garda Kiernan had arrived on the scene and they heard a bang and saw Mr Boyce lying on the ground but said they didn’t see what happened.
Garda Daly had said he hadn’t seen what happened.
He said this was because he was dealing with some other youths who were giving out about gardaí while Garda O’Regan said he had missed what happened to Mr Boyce as he was writing details in his notebook at the time, said Sgt O’Donovan.
The case continues.