A teenager who threw between 20 and 30 bottles at riot gardaí during the Love Ulster parade last year has been sentenced to 18 months in prison by Judge Katherine Delahunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Andrei Diaconu (19) of Seville Place, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at O'Connell Street, Dublin, on February 25th, 2006. Judge Delahunt said Diaconu had actively engaged in an attack on gardaí who were going about their business but she accepted his involvement was at the lower end of the scale.
She suspended the last nine months of the sentence after taking into account his later co-operation with gardaí and that he did not assist in organising the event.
Garda Fergal Flynn told Patrick McGrath BL, prosecuting, that there was considerable disruption in the city that afternoon; various items were thrown at gardaí, leaving some injured; and a number of premises on O'Connell Street were broken into and robbed. One such shop was Foot Locker, where the shutters were broken and windows smashed, before property to the value of €12,300 was taken, he said.
Diaconu was identified in stills of CCTV footage throwing bottles, while others showed him throwing rocks at the Garda public order unit. He later admitted to throwing bottles at gardaí and to taking five or six T-shirts from Foot Locker.
Diaconu, who is from Romania, said he knew nothing about Irish history and went to the parade for the "fun of it".
Barrister Bernard Condon said his client, who now has residency here, had been assessed by the probation service and was considered at a medium risk of reoffending once he has dealt with his misuse of cannabis and alcohol.
He said Diaconu did "a very stupid thing that he and his family were very embarrassed by".