Guilty plea | 

Man attacked taxi driver after row with partner before crashing through Dublin hotel gate in BMW

Adjourning the case, Judge Treasa Kelly told him to pay €2,700 for the damage and further compensation to the driver

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A father-of-two pulled his partner from a taxi outside a Dublin hotel then attacked the driver when he intervened, repeatedly punching him in the face.

Gerard McCaffrey (36) drove off in his own car after assaulting the taxi driver, smashing through the hotel’s closed gate.

Adjourning the case, Judge Treasa Kelly told him to pay €2,700 for the damage and further compensation to the driver.

McCaffrey, a stay-at-home dad from Annesley Court, Newcastle, Co Down, pleaded guilty to assaulting the taxi driver and criminal damage. His partner did not make a complaint.

Garda Sergeant Deirdre McInerney told Dublin District Court the incident happened at the Skylon Hotel in Drumcondra on February 27, 2020.

The accused and his partner had been out in Dublin that night and became separated.

McCaffrey was using the hotel phone in reception to call her at 11.50am when he started repeatedly smashing the handset, causing €100 worth of damage.

Fifteen minutes later, he was waiting in the hotel car park when his partner arrived back in a taxi.

When it stopped, McCaffrey pulled her from the cab and pushed her to the ground, the sergeant said.

The driver got out to try to calm the situation down and McCaffrey punched him several times to the head with a closed fist.

The taxi driver did not fight back and remained defensive.

He suffered from dizziness and headaches after the attack.

McCaffrey then left in his own BMW, breaking a flower pot worth €100 as he left and deliberately driving through a closed gate, causing €2,500 worth of damage.

The couple had a dispute on the night, they were still together and due to be married this year, defence barrister Kevin McCrave said.

McCaffrey had had some difficulties with alcohol but had stopped drinking since the incident.

The DPP consented to the case being heard in the district court.

Judge Kelly accepted jurisdiction.

The judge adjourned the case to January to give the accused time to pay compensation before mitigation and finalisation.​