‘ABUSIVE BEHAVIOUR’ | 

Drunken civil servant called gardaí ‘scum’, threw purse at them and stumbled into hedge, court hears

She had been having personal issues and on the night in question she used alcohol to deal with them, he said.

Andrew PhelanIndependent.ie

14th September 2022

A civil servant was arrested for public order offences when she threw her purse at gardaí and drunkenly called them “scum”.

Jean Bergin (60) had been drinking to deal with “personal issues” when she hurled abuse at the officers.

Judge Bryan Smyth said he would leave her without a criminal record if she made a €200 charity donation, and adjourned the case.

Bergin, of Griffith Court, Marino, pleaded guilty to public intoxication and threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour.

Dublin District Court heard gardaí arrested the accused on Clontarf Road at 8.20pm on October 8 last year.

She was highly abusive to the garda who dealt with her.

Bergin was slurring her words, was unsteady on her feet and threw her purse at the garda.

She then stumbled and fell into hedging.

The court heard Bergin told the garda: “You’re only a pr**k, go f**k yourself, you’re all scum.”

The accused had no previous convictions. Bergin had worked for all her career in the civil service, her lawyer said.

She had been having personal issues and on the night in question she used alcohol to deal with them, he said.

The lawyer asked the judge to consider leaving the accused without a criminal record.

Judge Smyth adjourned the case to a date in October and said he would apply the Probation Act if Bergin paid €250 to St Francis Hospice, Raheny.

In default, he said, he would fine and convict the accused.