PEOPLE IN Co Donegal think gardaí are “fair game” to be attacked while on duty, a local judge has claimed.
Judge Seamus Hughes was speaking after an incident in which gardaí were surrounded by a mob outside a nightclub after arresting two brothers. Shane O’Donnell and Michael O’Donnell were arrested after becoming involved in an assault outside Dodge nightclub in Derrybeg on August 15th.
After arresting the men, Garda Kevin Gallagher revealed how he and two other officers were surrounded by a mob and abused as they tried to put the accused into a patrol car. Garda Gallagher said he had been at Store Street in Dublin for five years and had never encountered such hostility.
Judge Hughes said he was outraged by the attack, and said he could understand why the officers would fear for their lives. He thought Co Donegal people treated gardaí very badly in the course of doing their duty.
“Some people in this area especially, and in Donegal as a whole, may feel that the gardaí are fair game, but I don’t feel that way and I won’t tolerate it.
“It is a view of many people looking at this area that there is a problem. I don’t know if it’s something historical that has led people to have that opinion or if they just have no respect for the gardaí.”
He sentenced Shane O’Donnell (27) to two months in prison for assault but suspended the sentence for six months.
He sentenced Michael O’Donnell (29) to two months in prison for threatening gardaí and refused to suspend the sentence.