Woman threw pint glass over garda's head in Westport pub

A WOMAN who threw a pint glass over a garda's head in a Westport pub over the weekend was told she was very lucky not to be going to jail.

Ann McDonagh (41) of 59 Devonshire Hill Lane, London appeared before Ballina District Court where she received a two month suspended prison sentence for obstructing a peace officer during a disturbance in a pub in Westport town centre on Saturday, July 22.

Ms McDonagh who was also charged with intoxication in a public place appeared in court on Tuesday alongside her son James McDonagh (21) of The Halting Site, Hackney, London who was also charged with the same offences while her sister, Julia McDonagh (33) of 1 Hillside Court, Newry, Co Down was charged with breach of the peace.

The charges all arose from the same incident on Saturday evening which was captured on mobile phone footage and widely shared on social media over the weekend.

The court heard that the three defendants had travelled with family members to Co Mayo to take part in a pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick.

Sergeant Conor McShane, the Court Presenter, explained that gardaí were called to the bar by staff following a disturbance involving a group of females. They refused to leave when asked to and became abusive and extremely aggressive.

Sgt McShane explained that when Garda Hugh Egan was trying to deal with the situation, Mr McDonagh ran into the bar and tried to force his way in.

Judge Fiona Lydon then heard that Ann McDonagh threw a pint glass over the head of Garda Egan. Mr McDonagh continued to be aggressive before he was arrested while Ann McDonagh had to be physically restrained by gardaí before she too was arrested.

Sgt McShane said the rest of the group of females continued to shout abuse when directed to leave but Julia McDonagh refused to leave and continued to be abusive.

The court heard that none of the three defendants had previous convictions and their solicitor, Peter Loftus said they were all pleading guilty.

In relation to Ann McDonagh, he said she accepted her behaviour was out of order and wished to apologise to Garda Egan saying what she did was done on the spur of the moment. He said she was a mother of six children and was eager to return to the UK.

Mr Loftus said alcohol was a factor in Julia McDonagh's behaviour but apart from being verbally abusive to gardaí, there was nothing to suggest she did anything untoward. He added that Mr McDonagh's actions were also fuelled by alcohol and he too wished to apologise for his conduct.

There was confusion as to why the disturbance took place with gardaí saying they were called by staff as a result of an argument between up to eight females. However Mr Loftus said his instructions were that it was as a result of an issue about being served.

Mr Loftus added that there was no third party involvement in the row and they were all family members. Garda Egan confirmed that the three defendants were not known to gardaí prior to this incident and there were no other issues involving them in Westport that night.

Judge Lydon commented that she was very concerned that a pint glass was thrown over Garda Egan. She told Ann McDonagh regardless of whether it was on the spur of the moment, it was 'no way to conduct yourself' in a pub in Westport.

Judge Lydon told Ann McDonagh that in the circumstances she was lucky to still have her liberty before imposing a two month sentence to be suspended for a one year period.

Judge Lydon fined Mr McDonagh €500 for obstruction of a peace officer while she directed that Julia McDonagh be given the benefit of the Probation Act if she donated €300 to the Garda Benevolent Fund.