A Clonmel man who assaulted a female member of An Garda Síochána causing her harm in October last year waited until today to admit the offence and apologise to her. However, when the case was called, defence solicitor Daithí Ó Donnabháin said the accused man was entering a plea of guilty to assault causing harm to the guard and obstructing her colleague in the course of the arrest. Judge John King said this was a very serious assault and that the plea of guilty was only entered at the 11th hour. He pointed out that the maximum sentence was 12 months and that even though O’Leary entered a guilty plea, the full sentence was merited. However, the judge said that he would take account of the fact that between various periods remanded in custody on the charge, O’Leary had spent six months in prison already.

Source: Irish Examiner June 20, 2019 20:15 UTC