A garda convicted of assaulting two women in a row over a lift home after a night out is appealing the convictions and says he punched one of the women in the face “in defence” because he felt “threatened”, a court has heard.
Brian Hanrahan (34) with an address at Ballintotty, Nenagh, Co Tipperary was convicted last year of assaulting Emer Kelly and Aisling King, causing them harm, in the early hours of March 5th 2016.
He denied the charges but was found guilty and received suspended sentences of six months and three months in the district court.
Nenagh Circuit Court heard on Thursday that he was fully appealing the convictions.
The alleged assaults happened after Mr Hanrahan, a father-of-two who was off duty as a garda at the time, offered €15 to three friends in Nenagh to give him a lift home.
They eventually agreed and set off towards his home outside the town, with Aisling King driving.
Emer Kelly told the court that, as the journey went on, they asked Mr Hanrahan — whom they didn’t previously know — how his night was and he said “Nenagh was full of scumbags” and he didn’t have a good time.
Ms Kelly said he became aggressive in the car and said her boyfriend was “overweight”. She pulled up the car outside Lisbunny graveyard and told him to get out.
He did so and, as Ms King was turning the car in the direction of Nenagh, Ms Kelly stood out of the car and asked him for the €15.
“He came back,” Ms Kelly said. “He grabbed me by the hair, he pulled me to the ground, I was lying on the ground and all I can remember was covering my upper head. I got a kick to the face. I felt the force of the kick, then just punches kept coming at me.”
Cross-examining, Aidan Doyle SC for Mr Hanrahan said his instructions from his client were that he had agreed to pay €20 for the lift but Emer Kelly wanted €50 from him for the lift and started grabbing at him.
“He tried to hold her off. He then decided that he needed to hit her. He hit her once in the face. He regrets doing it, but that was the situation he felt he was in.”
The appeal continues.