logo
Woman in court after kicking Garda in crotch during search of her home

Woman in court after kicking Garda in crotch during search of her home

A woman who kicked a detective in the crotch while he was carrying out a search of her home in Co Donegal has appeared in court.
Jana Milaniakova appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with assaulting the Garda at her home on January 2, 2024.
Garda Pauline Doherty gave evidence of the arrest, charge and caution of Milaniakova at Letterkenny Courthouse yesterday.
When charged with the offence, the accused woman replied: "I apologise for this charge. I was very frightened."
Garda Sergeant Maurice Doyle told the court how the detective had been executing a search warrant at the woman's house when the incident happened.
Judge Eiteain Cunningham asked if the detective was injured following the assault.
Sergeant Doyle said there was "initial discomfort" but that the detective did not suffer any long-term issues.
The Irish Mirror's Crime Writers Michael O'Toole and Paul Healy are writing a new weekly newsletter called Crime Ireland. Click here to sign up and get it delivered to your inbox every week
The assault charge is Contrary to Section 3 (1) and 3(2) of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997 (as amended by Section 20 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023).
Sergeant Doyle added that the Director of Public Prosecutions had decided the incident can be dealt with by way of summary disposal in the District Court.
Ms Milaniakova was also charged with the theft of an engagement ring at the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny on December 29, 2023.
That charge is Contrary to Section 4 of the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001.
The case was adjourned to November 10 for hearing.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Garda convicted of assaulting teenage boy in Temple Bar four years ago
Garda convicted of assaulting teenage boy in Temple Bar four years ago

Irish Examiner

time2 hours ago

  • Irish Examiner

Garda convicted of assaulting teenage boy in Temple Bar four years ago

A garda has been convicted of assaulting a teenager in Temple Bar four years ago following a trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Lorcan Murphy, 32, of Pearse Street Garda Station, pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault causing harm under section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997. The assaults on the then 17-year-old took place on Essex Street, Dublin 2, and Pearse Street Garda Station on June 1, 2021. After four hours and 20 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned unanimous verdicts of guilty on both counts. There was complete silence in the court after the jury delivered its verdict. Judge Pauline Codd thanked the jurors for their service. She adjourned the matter for sentencing until November 3 next, in order to prepare a probation report and a victim impact statement. She remanded Murphy on continuing bail. The trial heard the complainant had been 'drinking that day' and had also been 'smoking weed'. He also said that he 'could have been' carrying alcohol. He went to meet his girlfriend in Temple Bar and said the last thing he remembered was walking past McDonald's on Grafton Street. He said 'waking up in James' Hospital' was the next thing he remembered. Someone in the hospital told him he was involved in an incident with the gardaí. He said he ran out of the hospital as he 'freaked out', and thought nothing was wrong with him. He woke up with a pain in his head, then went to the Mater Hospital before being transferred to Beaumont Hospital, where he stayed for five days. He said he had headaches but has no issues with his memory. The complainant agreed during cross-examination he had no recollection of the incident, due to a head injury, but accepted alcohol and cannabis could have contributed to his lack of memory. In his evidence, Mr Murphy said he went to assist a colleague, who was dealing with the complainant. He instructed the complainant to remove his hands from his pockets, then noted the young man tense up. Mr Murphy said the complainant produced a glass bottle in such a way that he believed he was at risk of being struck with the bottle. Mr Murphy said he managed to take hold of the complainant's second hand, and he was handcuffed. He said the complainant was spitting towards him. Mr Murphy said he felt unsafe both for himself and the arrested complainant. He said he had his hand on the complainant's back and felt him shift his weight, and Mr Murphy then performed a leg sweep. The side of the complainant's body and head made contact with the ground. Mr Murphy checked him visually and said at no stage was he unconscious. He requested prisoner transport and that a doctor be called to Pearse Street Garda Station. In his closing speech, prosecuting counsel John Gallagher BL told the jury the prosecution's case was that excessive force was used in the leg sweep, which resulted in the complainant's head impacting the ground. He submitted the level of force used to bring the complainant to the ground after his initial arrest was not reasonable, inherently dangerous and likely to cause injury to the complainant. Mr Justin McQuade, BL, defending, said the force used was a leg sweep, and it was an 'unfortunate secondary impact' when the complainant hit his head on the ground, adding his client 'did not have the luxury of picking a softer landing point'. Mr McQuade suggested if gardaí were going to be criminalised for using force, they may be slower to use it in the future and that benefits no one.

Waterford landlord and son who blackmailed and intimidated woman have sentences suspended
Waterford landlord and son who blackmailed and intimidated woman have sentences suspended

Irish Times

time3 hours ago

  • Irish Times

Waterford landlord and son who blackmailed and intimidated woman have sentences suspended

A Waterford landlord and his son have had their sentences suspended for blackmailing and intimidation of a former tenant in their appeal case. John Guiry (50) and his son John Frampton (28), of Ballygarron, Kilmeaden, received prison sentences for intimidation and coercion last March. Guiry received a four-month sentence for coercion. Frampton received an eight-month sentence for making an unwarranted demand, with menaces, of the woman to immediately vacate her family home. The woman claimed Guiry said he wanted her out by May 5th, 2024, or he would be 'sending people' to the property. READ MORE On May 2nd, 2024, five hooded men approached her at the property. One man, understood to be Frampton, threatened to kill her if she didn't leave. The encounter left the woman and her teenage daughter 'terrified', the court heard. On July 23rd, State Solicitor Frank Hutchinson outlined the facts of the case in court in Waterford before Judge Sarah Berkeley. The court heard that May 2nd, 2024, a woman living in a rented property in Larchville reported to the Garda that a gang of five men had arrived to her home, dressed all in black with their hoods up and tied. Three men stood at the wall of the front garden while another man approached the woman and made threats to kill her and 'everyone in the house' if she didn't leave the property. He told her: 'You've had plenty of notice to get the f**k out of here. I'll be back and kill you and everyone in the house.' The women pointed to the packed boxes in the house and said she was 'getting ready to go'. The hooded man said : 'You better go or I will be back.' The woman's teenage daughter was inside the house at the time of the encounter and witnessed the threats. She took a photo of the men and the vehicle they used. The vehicle was later identified as belonging to Frampton. The woman and daughter recognised the man making the threats as their landlord's son, based on his appearance. The victim told gardaí that she had been in a dispute with her landlord Guiry over moving out of the property and had gone through proceedings with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). The RTB said the termination notice as invalid and ordered the woman to be paid €4,500 in damages. Mairead Deevy BL represented father and son in their appeal. Ms Deevy said that the accused offered their apologies to the victim and her family and 'had written letters to that effect'. Guiry told gardaí he was running on the Waterford Greenway at the time of the incident. Defence counsel told the court the tenant had been renting the property since 2013. In 2023, Guiry spoke to her about moving out of the property because his own daughter 'fell pregnant' and needed a place to live. Ms Deevy said: 'The tenant, quite correctly, didn't want to go as rent was €750.' Over the following months, the woman tried to find other accommodation but failed to secure a new home. The termination notice issued by Guiry was deemed invalid by the RTB. Ms Deevy said that meant Guiry would have to 'start the process all over again'. 'Rather than go through the legal means, they took the law into their own hands.' The defence presented photos taken of the house in the aftermath in the event, which purportedly showed the property as being left in a 'poor state' after the incident. Judge Berkeley was also provided character references for the defendants. Ms Deevy later said: 'I can only say it was a moment of madness.' Judge Berkeley said: 'Yes the house was left in a fairly bad state but there was no excuse for what happened.' The judge suspended both sentences for 12 months and ordered them to pay €4,500 to the victim. 'I think at this stage they've learned not to take the law into their own hands,' the judge said.

Garda found guilty of assaulting a teenager in Temple Bar four years ago
Garda found guilty of assaulting a teenager in Temple Bar four years ago

The Journal

time6 hours ago

  • The Journal

Garda found guilty of assaulting a teenager in Temple Bar four years ago

A GARDA HAS been convicted of assaulting a teenager in Temple Bar four years ago following a trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Lorcan Murphy (32) of Pearse Street Garda Station pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault causing harm under section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997. The assaults on the then 17-year-old took place on Essex Street, Dublin 2 and Pearse Street Garda Station on 1 June 2021. After four hours and 20 minutes of deliberation, the jury returned unanimous verdicts of guilty on both counts. There was complete silence in the court after the jury delivered its verdict. Judge Pauline Codd thanked the jurors for their service. She adjourned the matter for sentencing until 3 November, in order to prepare a probation report and a victim impact statement. She remanded Murphy on continuing bail. The evidence The complainant told the court that he had no recollection of the events and that he had been 'drinking that day' and had also been 'smoking weed'. 'I was assaulted, I was tripped up supposedly, I fractured my skull,' the complainant said. He went to meet his girlfriend in Temple Bar and said the last thing he remembered was walking past McDonald's on Grafton Street. He said 'waking up in James' Hospital' was the next thing he remembered. Someone in the hospital told him he was involved in an incident with the gardaí. He said he ran out of the hospital as he 'freaked out' and thought nothing was wrong with him. He woke up with a pain in his head, then went to the Mater Hospital before being transferred to Beaumont Hospital, where he stayed for five days. He said he had headaches but has no issues with his memory. The complainant stated that he had spoken to Fiosrú (then known as the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, or GSOC) and provided them with two videos: one of himself on the ground, which someone else had recorded, and another of the garda approaching him, which he had taken himself. He stated that he was not charged with any offences in relation to the events in Temple Bar that day. The complainant agreed during cross-examination that he had no recollection of the incident, due to a head injury, but accepted that alcohol and cannabis could have contributed to his lack of memory. Defence counsel asked the witness if he was someone who would obstruct the gardai, and he said that 'sometimes if they came to me Ma's house'. When asked how he would obstruct the gardai, the complainant said, 'Just resist arrest, but I wasn't resisting arrest this time'. He accepted that he was interviewed by GSOC, now Fiosrú, but disagreed with a suggestion that he lied about his alcohol consumption. The jury heard that the complainant has 44 previous convictions, and ten days after this alleged incident, he kicked and beat a person after they had withdrawn money from an ATM on O'Connell Street, then went through their pockets. The complainant stated that he is a person who is respectful to others in society and has not engaged in anti-social behaviour since he was 15. When it was put to him that beating people up and robbing them in public is not respectful, he replied, 'I'm paying for my mistakes'. CCTV was shown to the court of two gardaí, one of whom was Lorcan Murphy, on Essex Street, along with CCTV from Pearse Street Garda Station. Witness Darragh Fitzpatrick gave evidence that he had gone to Essex Street after hurling training to socialise with friends. Advertisement Asked if he saw any interaction between gardai and the complainant, he replied: 'He seemed out of it, he didn't seem to know what was going on.' Fitzpatrick said he saw 'a bit of grabbing and handcuffs being placed on him [the complainant] and hearing something about a knife'. When he heard the word 'knife', he took a step back. He said he saw a garda, identified as Murphy, 'spear tackle' the complainant. Fitzpatrick described the complainant going 'limp and lifeless', adding that he was 'frozen' and was 'initially very shocked'. Aileen Fitzmaurice's evidence was that she could not hear what was said between the gardaí and the complainant, but thought there was an 'aggressive demeanour'. She said everything happened quite quickly; the complainant ended up face down on the ground. He was restrained by the gardaí, and she then heard shouting, 'Where is the knife?' The gardaí first lifted the complainant to his feet, and then she described, 'It was like they flipped him in a sudden manner and bashed his head off the ground.' She also described hearing a loud sound. Under cross-examination, she confirmed she heard 'where is the knife' said repeatedly, but she could not remember the exact sequence of events. Eoghan Hickey's evidence was that he heard one of the gardai saying 'drop the knife' repeatedly. He described the complainant as being 'limp' when he was brought to the garda van. He agreed with defence counsel during cross-examination that he heard gardaí shouting 'where is the knife' while the complainant was upright. Dr Haroon Khan gave evidence of being called to Pearse Street Garda Station. He said he noted the complainant was intoxicated, tried to rouse him, but did not speak to him before having him transferred to the hospital. Consultant Neurosurgeon Mr John Caird gave evidence that the complainant had a fracture to the skull and a contusion to the brain and has made an excellent recovery. The defence case Two statements from Murphy were read to the jury. He went to assist a colleague, who was dealing with the complainant. He instructed the complainant to remove his hands from his pockets, then noted the young male tense up. He stated that the complainant was again asked to remove his hands from his pockets, but he did not comply. Murphy said the complainant produced a glass bottle in such a way that he believed he was at risk of being struck with the bottle, which was then pushed out of the complainant's hand. The complainant was informed that he was being placed under arrest. He was placed on the ground, and another garda placed one handcuff on him. The complainant's second hand was under him, and he was resisting arrest. Murphy said he managed to take hold of the complainant's second hand, and he was handcuffed. He said that the complainant was spitting towards him. Murphy stood up and took the complainant to his feet. He told a crowd which had gathered to get back, but they didn't. Murphy said he felt unsafe both for himself and the arrested complainant. He said he had his hand on the complainant's back and felt him shift his weight, and Murphy then performed a leg sweep. The side of the complainant's body and head made contact with the ground. Murphy checked him visually and said that at no stage was he unconscious. He requested prisoner transport and that a doctor be called to Pearse Street Garda Station. Closing speeches Prosecuting counsel John Gallagher BL told the jury the prosecution's case wAs that excessive force was used in the leg sweep, which resulted in the complainant's head impacting the ground. He submitted that the level of force used to bring the complainant to the ground after his initial arrest was not reasonable, inherently dangerous and likely to cause injury to the complainant. He said the prosecution also says that pulling the complainant's head using his hair in Pearse Street Garda Station, then applying force to his chest, is also an assault, which caused harm in the form of immediate pain. Justin McQuade, BL, defending, told jurors that the law requires them 'to stand in the shoes of Garda Murphy and view the situation that unfolded through the circumstances he believed them to be'. He said the force used was a leg sweep, and it was an 'unfortunate secondary impact' when the complainant hit his head on the ground, adding that his client 'did not have the luxury of picking a softer landing point'. McQuade suggested that if gardaÍ are going to be criminalised for using force, they may be slower to use it in the future and that benefits no one. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store