A former Fianna Fáil councillor has received a six month suspended sentence and a fine of €800 after he was convicted of public order offences and being in possession of a knife.
Gary O'Flynn (37) of Hayfield Drive, Castle Court, Whitechurch, Co Cork had denied the three public order offences but was convicted last December on the charges which related to incidents in a Cork nightclub two years ago.
O'Flynn had been socialising with friends on February 25th and 26th, 2011 at Gorby's Nightclub on Oliver Plunkett Street in Cork. Club owner Niall Kearney received a complaint about the behaviour of O'Flynn and a woman alleged that he had poured a drink over her. Mr Kearney said that when he approached O'Flynn he became aggressive and told him to "go f**k himself".
Cork District Court also heard O'Flynn refused to move to a quieter part of the club and after demanding a refund for his drink, drank it in front of the club owner and laughed.
Gardaí responded to a call to come to Gorby's where they found the defendant refusing to leave. Garda Kieran O'Donovan said in his forty years in the force Gary O'Flynn was the most difficult and arrogant man he had ever met.
O'Flynn had denied charges of being drunk and a danger, being threatening, abusive, or insulting, and carrying a knife.
During last year's trial at Cork District Court Inspector Billy Duane referred to O'Flynn's aggressive attitude towards Mr Kearney on the night of the public order offences. He said ""I put it to you he [Mr Kearney] was met with hostility."
O'Flynn replied: "Put it any way you want, he was not."
Meanwhile, Sergeant Shane Ellis told the court that O'Flynn's behaviour was "very abusive" to gardaí.
At Cork District Court today barrister Ray Boland, representing O'Flynn, said his client was a man without previous convictions and of previous good character. He said the case had received a degree of publicity given O'Flynn's status as a former public representative and that in the normal course of events it wouldn't merit any column inches.
Mr Boland said the publicity had impacted on the O'Flynn family and the accused and he asked the judge to take this in to consideration when sentencing. He stressed that it was important to mention inaccuracies in press reportage in that Mr O'Flynn wasn't charged with possession of a flick knife but an ordinary pen knife.
Mr Boland told the court that the case has had a detrimental effect on O'Flynn's business and he is now in "straightened circumstances". He added the offences were at the lower end of the scale in that they were almost entirely verbal. "Nobody was threatened with immediate physical violence."
Judge Olann Kelleher heard that when Gary O'Flynn was asked about a penknife found in a pocket after his arrest, he said it was for his own protection and he would use it again. Judge Kelleher said it was "a very dangerous, fraught night for the people involved" in the case.
In sentencing he also noted Sgt O'Donovan's remarks about the arrogance of O'Flynn's actions on the night in question.
A medical report was furnished to the court. The case had previously been adjourned for sentencing to faciliate a pyschiatric assessment of O'Flynn. The details of the report were not read out in court. Judge Kelleher fined O'Flynn €800 and handed out a six month suspended sentence to the former councillor.
Judge Kelleher said it was his general view that anyone caught in possession of a knife without lawful purpose should go to prison.
"Everyone knows the difficulties caused in relation to knives. I take the view that if anyone is caught with a knife with unlawful purpose they should go to prison."
However, he accepted that O'Flynn was a man of previous good character. He also took his expressions of remorse and lack of convictions in to consideration when sentencing.
Gary O'Flynn was a city councillor in Cork from 2004 to 2008 when he resigned citing work commitments. He is the son of retired Fianna Fáil TD Noel O'Flynn who represented Cork North Central.