Kerry footballer convicted of assaulting two gardaí after 'huge' amount of drink

Testimonials including from the Co Kerry GAA board, Kilcummin GAA cub and Mr Niall O’Callaghan, a former town councillor in Killarney with strong GAA links were handed into court by his solicitor in a plea for mitigation.

Judge David Waters, asking what the significance of the testimonials was, told solicitor Padraig O’Connell, McCarthy would be treated the same way as anyone else who came before his court, and the only thing keeping him from a custodial sentence was the absence of a previous conviction.

McCarthy had entered a guilty plea to three charges in early November when the matter first came before Tralee District Court. A fourth charge of trying to bite the female garda driver of the Garda patrol car while being brought to Tralee Garda station was withdrawn.

He pleaded guilty with two Section 2 assaults - one on Garda Ronan Coleman, and the other on security guard Robert Zybura. He also pleaded guilty to the more serious Section 3 assault causing harm to Garda Michael Dalton.

All offences occurred on December 26 last year on Main Street, Castleisland.

Outlining the incident, Sgt Miriam Mulhall Nolan, told the District Court that gardaí were attending to another matter in Castleisland on the night at around 9.40pm when Kevin McCarthy came to their attention and they noticed he was highly intoxicated.

He became abusive and aggressive when spoken to and was showing violence, and the gardaí were forced to use pepper spray.

He lashed out too at a security garda who came to assist the garda trying to deal with Mr McCarthy.

In the back of the garda patrol car, McCarthy became “extremely aggressive”.

He bit Garda Coleman on the right hand and left teeth marks, and he inflicted an injury on the wrist of Garda Dalton who as a result was off duty from December 26 to March 10 last.

Pleading for mitigation, solicitor Padraig O’Connell read from the interview his client gave to gardaí shortly afterwards.

He told how he had set out at 11am travelling by bus to the Munster v Leinster match at Thomond Park and had begun drinking on the bus - three or four cans of Carlsberg.

He had five or six brandies and Baileys. He left the match early as Munster were losing, and had more pints and drinks at Shannon Rugby club.

He had been drinking brandy because he had had a vomiting bug the night before and had nothing to eat.

Having travelled back by bus to Knocknagoshel, he drank vodka and red bulls at Walsh’s pub. He did not remember what happened in Castleisland. He had had a blackout from the drink and this had happened once or twice before.

“I’d like to apologize to everyone,” he had told gardaí.

Asked by gardaí “was there any other substance involved?”, Kevin McCarthy replied “No”, Mr O’Connell read from the garda interview to the court.

Mr O’Connell then handed the testimonials into court.

Handing them back, after glancing at them, Judge Waters asked what their significance was, and Mr O’Connell said it was to show there was no previous offence.

The solicitor also said:

The situation is this, he had a huge, a voluminous amount of alcohol.

His client had handed €5,000 in compensation into court, and he apologised. The court heard he came from a good family and was hard-working. His sporting prowess was well known.

Judge David Waters said Mr McCarhty would be treated the same way as everyone else. “The only thing keeping him from a custodial sentence is that he has no previous offences,” the Judge said.

Alcohol was “no defence”, the judge said.

“He will be treated the same way as anyone else… He was violent, completely out of control. The bite mark is a very serious aggravating factor."

He convicted him on the two Section 2 and three Section 3 assaults and fined him a total of €1,400. Recognizances were fixed in the event of an appeal.

After the court, solicitor Padraig O’Connell said his client would be appealing the matter “on the grounds of severity”.