Man who came at gardaí with large knife is sentenced

A man who “was intent” on doing gardaí harm when he came at them with a large knife has been sentenced to 28 months in prison.

Garda Aine McGroarty said that she and her colleague Garda Killian Owens experienced “sheer terror” when confronted by Declan Turner (23) after he “went crazy” when they attended at a scene of a public order incident.

Turner of Barron’s Hall House, Balbriggan, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Garda­ McGroarty and Garda Owens at La Verna Grange, Baldoyle, Dublin, on November 22nd, 2018. He has convictions for assault, possession of knives, criminal damage, public order and breaching a barring order.

The court heard that Turner had gone to his friend’s house after drinking in a nearby pub before an incident broke out and a neighbour called the gardaí­.

Judge Martin Nolan said Turner “presented as a very violent individual” who had threatened the gardaí­, but he said Gda McGroarty had probably been “a little too kind” to Turner when she struck him on the thigh with her baton.

“She probably should have hit him a bit harder,” the judge said after he commented that the gardaí had “handled it well”.

He acknowledged that Turner had “underlying mental health problems” but said his “intake of alcohol” on the night was probably the cause of his behaviour.

Judge Nolan said Turner had a history of violence and relatively serious offending before he jailed him for 28 months.

Gda McGroarty told Dara Hayes BL, prosecuting, that Turner had just gone “crazy” that day. She said he remained uncooperative throughout his detention and interview with gardaí­.

She agreed that neither she nor Gda Owens had prepared victim impact statements but replied when asked if she had been frightened by the incident; “Sheer terror is what we experienced”.

Gda McGroarty later told Kevin McCrave BL, defending, that Turner “was intent on doing us harm that night”.