A Garda witness in the trial of three men accused of assaulting another garda in Copper Face Jack's disco in Dublin's Harcourt Street said he was unaware drink could be got there up to 4 a.m.
Garda Joe Lowney said the disco was closed and patrons were leaving the premises when he arrived at the scene with his colleague, Garda Aisling O'Connor, at 2.45 a.m.
Mr Francis Connelly (21), Noard, Two Mile House, Co Tipperary; Mr Terence O'Reilly (28), of Grange Park, Rathfarnham; and Mr Leslie O'Reilly (22), Aiken Barrack, Dundalk, Co Louth, pleaded not guilty to assaulting Garda Keith Dore at Copper Face Jack's on April 29th, 2000.
Garda Lowney claimed he didn't know the alleged victim was a garda attached to Donnybrook Garda Station when he heard one of the accused say he hit him. He later learned that from Garda O'Connor. Garda Lowney told Mr Padraig Dwyer, defending, he didn't know how a Donnybrook Garda patrol car arrived, outside its area, at Harcourt Street after he called for an ambulance.
The witness rejected an assertion by Ms Caroline Biggs, defending Mr Connelly, that his investigation had been minimalist because the alleged victim was a fellow garda.
Garda Lowney agreed with Mr Dwyer, defending Mr O'Reilly, that he hadn't made any notes at the scene. He was looking for witnesses to the alleged assault.
Pressed by Mr Dwyer, the witness admitted he had not entered the premises, which he insisted was already closed.
He said he got the accuseds' names from the Harcourt Terrace Garda Station custody record when he made his statement on June 6th, 2000. The hearing continues.