criminal damage | 

Passer-by had to come to garda’s aid as drunken man swung fists, court told

Jonathan Gibbons (41) had been hurling abuse at a bus driver after losing his phone when he turned his aggression on the garda who tried to calm him down.

Today at 01:30

A passer-by had to come to the aid of a garda when a drunken man started swinging his fists at the officer in a struggle on a Dublin city centre street.

Jonathan Gibbons (41) had been hurling abuse at a bus driver after losing his phone when he turned his aggression on the garda who tried to calm him down.

Gibbons, a former charity worker with an address at Leinster Road, Rathmines, pleaded guilty to obstruction, threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour and public intoxication.

He also admitted criminal damage to a garda station cell by urinating in it, and possession of cannabis after his arrest.

Judge Bryan Smyth ordered him to carry out 60 hours of community service instead of a three-month prison sentence.

Dublin District Court heard gardaí found Gibbons verbally abusing the driver of a number 16 bus on O’Connell Street at 8.40pm on July 11. The incident stemmed from the loss of his phone earlier.

The accused turned his aggression on the garda when he tried to de-escalate the situation, the court was told.

Gibbons began swinging his fists at the garda but made no contact. A struggle ensued and an unknown bystander came to the assistance of the garda. Gibbons was brought to the ground and taken to Store Street garda station, where he urinated on the cell door. Cannabis worth €25 was found on him in a search.

Gibbons, a charity worker, had lost his job and “fell off the wagon”, his barrister Luke O’Higgins said.

He was “extremely apologetic, embarrassed and ashamed” of his actions on the night.

He had attended alcohol treatment previously and studied addiction studies in college.