A garda sergeant had his right thumb fractured when he was backflipped "with immense force" into a drain during protests at the site of the Corrib gas terminal in Bellanaboy, Co Mayo, on October 12th last, a District Court judge was told yesterday.
Sgt Donie Glennon told Judge Mary Devins at a special sitting of Belmullet District Court that he landed head first in water after being struck in the midriff from the front in the incident.
The witness gave evidence that he was in shock after the incident and he was pulled from a deep-sided drain by another garda before being treated with an ice pack. He was later diagnosed in hospital as having fractured his right thumb and had been off work since the incident.
The officer was the first Garda witness in a State case against three Shell to Sea protesters who are accused of assault causing harm to a garda and with obstructing Garda officers.
The accused men, Patrick O'Donnell - known locally as "The Chief" - and his son Jonathan O'Donnell, both from Porturlin Shore, Ballina, and Enda Carey, Porturlin, Ballina, deny the charges, which all relate to October 12th last.
Fourteen Garda witnesses and 18 witnesses for the defence were called to give evidence at the hearing. A large number of people from the Shell to Sea group attended the hearing.
Video evidence filmed by gardaí during the early morning protests on October 12th were shown during the course of the hearing, as was videotape of an interview conducted with Patrick O'Donnell at Belmullet Garda station on the day he was arrested.
Sgt Glennon told the court he was one of four sergeants in charge of approximately 40 gardaí providing protection for Shell workers entering the site, when he was knocked off the road. He could not say it had been an assault but he now knew he had not been struck by a vehicle. Other Garda witnesses gave evidence of seeing the defendants forming a scrum and binding together to force Sgt Glennon off the road.
In interviews with gardaí after being arrested, the three accused denied assault and said the fact Sgt Glennon ended up in hospital was not because of their actions.
Cross-examined by Alan Gannon, solicitor for the three accused, Sgt Dermot Butler said he had no recollection of calling Pat O'Donnell a "f***ing liar" when the accused had complained about being assaulted by another Garda sergeant during the protest.
A videotape of the Garda interview conducted with Patrick O'Donnell at Belmullet Garda station was played at the request of Mr O'Donnell's solicitor.
It showed Sgt Butler shouting expletives at the accused, at one stage as alleged by Mr Gannon. It also showed Sgt Butler apologising afterwards for the language to the man he was questioning.
After the completion of Garda evidence, Judge Devins adjourned the remainder of the case to Belmullet Court on May 30th. She said she would also like to visit the place at Bellanaboy where the alleged assault had taken place and would do so at 9.30am on the morning of the resumed hearing.