‘OUT OF CONTROL’ | 

Woman who ‘grabbed garda’s crotch’ after she was arrested for drink driving is fined

Moira Morrissey had denied the matters, claiming what happened to her in Finglas Garda Station was “horrific”, and she had been attacked by gardai.

Wed 18 Jan 2023 at 12:59 UP DATED BY FRED BASSETT 27TH JANUARY 2023

A DRIVER arrested on suspicion of drink driving grabbed and squeezed a garda in his crotch after she became “fed up” and tried to leave a garda station, a court heard.

Moira Morrissey (53) also assaulted two other gardai by kicking them, one in the chest, and allegedly told a doctor he was “an uneducated fool who could not speak proper English”.

Morrissey had denied the matters, claiming what happened to her in Finglas Garda Station was “horrific”, and she had been attacked by gardai.

Morrissey alleged she was thrown against a wall and officers had hit and kicked her, stripped her so she was almost topless and laughed at her.

Finding her guilty, Judge John Brennan said Morrissey was a woman of education and sophistication but she was “effectively out of control” on the night.

The judge fined Morrissey €1,600 and disqualified her from driving for four years.

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The accused, of Lynwood in Dundrum, was found guilty of failing to provide a specimen to gardai and three counts of assaulting gardai at Finglas Garda Station on December 28, 2020.

The case was before Blanchardstown District Court for continued hearing after gardai gave their evidence on the last occasion.

In her evidence, Morrissey described her experience in the garda station as “humiliating”, adding it was “shocking what they did”. She said she was hit and kicked, stripped and thrown against a wall by gardai.

Morrissey claimed her bra and jacket was taken off her, and she felt vulnerable and exposed because she was only wearing a thin white shirt. She claimed she was “nearly topless” and five gardai stood around looking at her, and a female officer laughed at her.

Morrissey said she should never have been taken to the station in the first place, as she’d only had one glass of wine earlier that day, and a roadside breath test would have proven she had not been drinking.

However, she had been told that gardai did not have any roadside breath tests, and she would have to be taken to the station.

In Finglas station, Morrissey admitted she became impatient and a bit “fed up” as she had been asked for her details a number of times, and she tried to walk outside to have a cigarette.

At that stage, “all hell broke loose” and her hand was pulled back by a garda, and she was thrown against a wall.

Morrissey tried to defend herself, but denied grabbing a male garda in the genitals, saying she couldn’t have done it because she was against a wall and unable to move her hands.

She also denied calling gardai “c*nts”, saying she would never use that word, but she did admit there was “some effing”.

She also denied kicking a female garda in the chest, saying that never happened.

Cross examined by State solicitor Fergal Mawe, Morrissey said when she was taken to the doctor’s room she was told she would have to provide blood, and was not given the option of providing urine.

However, Morrissey admitted she was not listening at this stage and “couldn’t take the gardai seriously because I’d been abused”.

In his submissions, defence lawyer Glenn Lynch BL said it was “flippant” to say there was a garda conspiracy but there were “massive contradictions in the garda evidence” and there was a danger that gardai were simply trying to support a colleague.

Judge Brennan said there was evidence from gardai of “consistent and aggressive behaviour” from Morrissey and her behaviour was completely unacceptable.

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Blanchardstown court previously heard evidence that gardai were on patrol on the N3 when they stopped Morrissey on suspicion of drink driving.

She was taken to Finglas station, and while there she became agitated and tried to leave.

A garda witness alleged Morrissey tried to push past him to leave the station, and swung her hand back, and he ducked as he thought she was going to hit him.

He turned Morrissey towards the wall, holding her arm, and with her other hand she twisted and pulled his testicles and penis, he said.

He cried out in pain and his colleagues helped bring Morrissey to the ground and forced her to release her grip.

A second garda said he was kicked in the shin by Morrissey when he went to assist his colleague.

He also said Morrissey told him she hoped he died “painfully in front of your family with cancer”, and called officers a “bunch of retards”.

A woman garda said she brought Morrissey to a cell, where the accused called her a “bimbo b*tch” and kicked her “full force in the chest”.

Morrissey was then taken to the doctor’s room where she allegedly called him “an uneducated fool who could not speak proper English”, and “I’ll take the disqualification, now f*ck off you stupid c*nt”.

Morrissey said she would be appealing the decision.