Two Republic of Ireland international football players have walked from Dublin District Court without convictions after pleading guilty to causing damage to a car owned by a garda and being drunk and disorderly.
The court was told the two men had been demonstrating a tackle when they damaged Garda Elaine Farrell's car and were engaging in "wild horseplay" rather than intending criminal damage.
Judge William Hamill gave Phil Babb (29) and Mark Kennedy (24) the benefit of the Probation Act, which requires them to keep the peace. The judge said a conviction would outweigh the consequences of what they had done.
"They have been dealt with by the authorities in the full glare of the media," he said when issuing his verdict yesterday.
The presence of the two footballers, both dressed in designer suits, attracted the attention of others facing charges at the District Court. People charged with offences ranging from shoplifting to handbag-snatching and drugs offences stood with the players as the court heard the charges against them and then later when the verdict was read out. Some asked for autographs from the two men, who spent most of the day there awaiting the outcome.
The court heard the two players had paid Garda Elaine Farrell almost £667 for damages to her car and were offering £5,000 to charity.
"I do not follow football," was the garda's reply to counsel for the players when he outlined their high-profile career.
The two men had rolled over Garda Farrell's car, setting off the alarm during the incident last August. As she tried to open the door of the taxi they had got into, Babb shut the door. When she arrested them, Babb told her: "What do you think you are doing? Who do you think you are?"
Outside the court Mr Chris Bird, chief executive officer of Manchester City football club, said both players, Babb and Kennedy, hoped to get back to playing for the Republic.
But the manager of the Republic of Ireland team, Mick McCarthy, has chosen to keep both out of tomorrow night's friendly against Finland at Lansdowne Road. It is the fourth international match they will miss, the previous three being all-important World Cup qualifier fixtures.