Two women arrested and charged following shopping centre brawl in Clare
Two women have been charged in relation to an alleged incident at a shopping centre in Co Clare yesterday where they grabbed and held onto each other’s hair until Gardaí arrived and managed to separate them.
The alleged incident, which was filmed by a passer-by, happened in front of young children in the Skycourt shopping centre in Shannon at around 1.10pm on Thursday.
It is understood that the incident is connected with a feud between Traveller families. One of the women is understood to be aged in her 20s while the other is in her late teens. One is also believed to be residing in the Shannon area while other is from outside of the town.
It is not known whether the online video, which was 5 minutes and 35 seconds in length, was edited and shortened but it shows the two women ‘locked’ in hair grabbing for the entire duration of the film.
A security guard could be seen standing close by on his phone and is understood to have alerted Gardaí. Several other women and a number of young children can also be seen in the footage as horrified shoppers pass the pair at a distance.
A little over two minutes into the video, several people could be seen beckoning to someone in the distance and soon afterwards, two plainclothes Gardaí arrived.
They identified themselves and spent some time trying to separate the women who were by now on the floor and still holding onto each other’s hair.
Gardaí managed to separate the pair and remove one from the area. She was restrained and taken from the scene while the second woman, still on the ground, was screaming at the Garda attempting to calm here. She was also arrested.
The women were taken to Shannon Garda station where they were later charged with public order and assault offences.
A garda spokesman confirmed: “Two women were detained arising out of this incident. They were taken to Shannon Garda station where they were later charged. They have been released on station bail to appear in court at a later date.”
