A GARDA is expected to be charged with in decently assaulting the daughter of a prominent Irish-American and assaulting another woman at a mansion in south Co Dublin.
The women were subjected to a prolonged attack after the garda, who was staying as a guest at the house, returned after a three-hour drinking binge.
After midnight, the garda, who is stationed in the Border area, made a drunken advance to the wife of a US policeman who was also staying at the house, according to garda sources.
The advance became more aggressive and the woman's dress was torn. Another woman who was staying at the house then was assaulted. At one point, the two women fled from their attacker to a room at the top of the three-storey house, which is owned by a wealthy Irish-American.
According to the women, they were in a state of terror during the incident. The garda's hand was bleeding profusely as he had cut himself on a broken jug and blood was smeared over them and round the room.
Gardai were eventually alerted and a squad car sent to the house. However, the garda, who is described as large and very strong, tried to resist arrest. Two other squad cars were called. It eventually took 10 officers to subdue him.
At one point, the garda was said to be flailing around him with a large metal fish platter.
The garda is said to have run from the house and collided with a heavy piece of garden furniture, at which time the officers were able to overpower and arrest him.
The officer was suspended from duty the next day on the direction of senior Garda management. A file on the incident was sent, to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The case has not yet come to court. However, it is understood the DPP is considering a charge of indecent assault of one of the American women, of assault against gardai and theft of a wrist watch.
The women and the police officer returned to the United States after giving statements to the investigating officers.
However, the delay in bringing charges is understood to have caused considerable concern to them and their families. The father of one of the women is a powerful figure in both politics and commerce, although he is not well known in Ireland.
It is understood the garda met the American policeman and his wife at a St Patrick Day's festivities earlier this year. When the couple visited Ireland and stayed at the summer home in south Co Dublin of a prominent New York lawyer, they invited the garda to visit them.
The daughter of a prominent figure from another US city was also staying at the house.
Little information has emerged despite the fact that the incident happened almost six weeks ago, around the time the US aircraft carrier, John F. Kennedy, was visiting Dun Laoghaire.
The incident has been investigated by a senior detective from the Dublin Metropolitan Area's Eastern Division. A delay in bringing charges is not unusual in such cases.