' My sister who is 15 was terrified. She thought someone was going to be shot . . . The other guard had a machine-gun.' Carl O'Brien reports.
The armed detective garda burst through the front door of the house as the 17-year-old lay in his bedroom.
Holding a revolver, the detective garda searched frantically through the house. Another detective garda in sunglasses stood outside with an Uzi sub-machine-gun.
The Garda helicopter, meanwhile, hovered noisily overhead.
They had been in pursuit of a motorcyclist who had fled the scene of an armed robbery in Clontarf when they found what appeared to be the suspect's bike, helmet and fluorescent jacket outside a house in a north Dublin housing estate.
The gardaí gathered outside and attempted to enter. But they didn't realise they had the wrong house.
"I was a bit terrified at first," the 17-year-old told Judge Catherine Murphy in Court 55 yesterday.
"My sister who is 15 was terrified. She thought someone was going to be shot . . . The other guard had a machine-gun with a handle, and was pointing it like this," he said, pointing an imaginary gun across the small courtroom.
He admitted shouting abuse at the gardaí, because he was angry, and kicking a rollerblade at one of the detectives. But that was all he did, he insisted.
The gardaí had a different story. They charged him with assault after allegedly hitting one of the gardaí in the back, spitting at another and throwing a rollerblade at a detective.
Det Garda Brennan told the judge he had sought permission to enter the house initially, but was told to "f*** off". He then forced his way in and later realised the suspect was not there.
"Coming out of one of the bedrooms, I saw the defendant. I was quite happy it was not him [the suspect]. He kicked me in the back, causing me to fall down two steps . . . The culprit for the armed robbery was later found next door."Det Garda Ainsworth, tanned and wearing a white buttoned-down shirt, told the judge of further hostility from the boy.
"While outside the defendant stuck his head out from the front bedroom window. I was wearing sunglasses at the time. He called me a 'speccy f****r', or something like that."
The diminutive 17-year-old, who had been leaning forward in his seat, smiled and sniffed quietly to himself.
Summing up, the boy's solicitor pointed out it was the gardaí who, in a "destructive and terrifying way", burst into the house and violated the privacy of the family home, leading to the alleged offences.
Judge Murphy, however, had no doubt. She accepted the evidence of four gardaí.
While it was regrettable gardaí entered the wrong house, they were trying to do their job in sensitive and difficult circumstances, she said.
She decided not to record a criminal conviction on the boy's records and requested a report from the probation services.
"Do you have what some might call an attitude towards the gardaí?" the judge asked the boy."No," he said.
She reminded him of some his references towards the gardaí and asked him again. "No. . . well, sometimes."
"A lot of the time," the judge responded assertively. "And that won't make matters any easier. Because you're going to come across the gardaí on a regular basis."
"I wouldn't have been in contact with them if they hadn't burst in the door," he answered.
"You could have made the garda's job easier. If you react in a positive rather than a negative manner, it will make your life a lot easier. Do you agree?"
"Yeah," he said gloomily, with his head bowed.
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