{"id":12707,"date":"2025-09-10T18:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T18:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/12707\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T18:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T18:05:10","slug":"drug-gang-enforcer-barged-into-meeting-to-intimidate-probation-service-client","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/12707\/","title":{"rendered":"Drug gang enforcer barged into meeting to intimidate Probation Service client"},"content":{"rendered":"

An enforcer from a drug gang barged into a meeting to intimidate a Probation Service<\/a> client in Munster in a shocking incident at a public office.<\/p>\n

In another frightening confrontation in Dublin, a juvenile client was set upon by a group of youths armed with large knives and blades.<\/p>\n

The young victim managed to make it back to a shop where a Probation Service project was taking place and staff blocked the entrance to the store.<\/p>\n

A note of the incident said: \u201cThe group left but returned. A second client waited outside and was assaulted when he wouldn\u2019t hand over his bike. It is thought that another participant of the project is in a gang feud with the first client.\u201d<\/p>\n

Munster intimidation incident<\/p>\n

In Munster last year, a meeting was interrupted by a man who entered an office saying he was a Probation Service client.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen asked to leave he ignored the PO [probation officer]. When looked up on the system he is not an open case,\u201d a report outlined. \u201cWhen the man left the client revealed that the man is a drug dealer and enforcer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The violent incidents were the most serious of 23 significant accident or incident reports made involving the Probation Service last year.<\/p>\n

The Probation Service works with criminal offenders to try and reduce the chances of them re-offending following release from custody.<\/p>\n

Client threw computer through glass door<\/p>\n

In another case, a client locked themselves in an office in Cork and sat quietly there for around 15 minutes.<\/p>\n

They then upturned a table and threw a computer around the room before smashing it through the glass of a door.<\/p>\n

A note said: \u201cThe other clients were evacuated and [An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na] were called, while the client was confined to the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter approximately 30 minutes, the garda\u00ed still hadn\u2019t shown, so a [staff member] went out to the street and flagged down a passing garda.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around half a dozen other cases of aggressive behaviour or verbal threats were also logged last year.<\/p>\n

In another case at a private address, a probation officer made an unannounced visit to a client in Dublin and found them in company with several people. One of the individuals refused to leave, claiming they were a carer although \u201cthe client disputed this\u201d.<\/p>\n

A note of the incident said: \u201cAfter asking her to leave again this person lunged at the [probation officer].<\/p>\n

\u201cThe client got between the [officer] and this person, but she still tried to strike the [officer], who grabbed her arm, hurting her hand in the process. This person then threw a cup of coffee over the [officer].\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the Probation Service said the health and safety of staff, clients, and other people they serve is of \u201cutmost importance.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cOur low incident rate is a testament to the diligence and collective focus on safety by our staff across more than thirty-five offices nationwide as well as in community service sites throughout Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur health and safety team conduct a thorough review process of every incident, and our goal is not just to respond to incidents, but to anticipate and prevent them, ensuring the safety and well-being of all our staff and the people we work with.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An enforcer from a drug gang barged into a meeting to intimidate a Probation Service client in Munster…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1111,61,60,43,1112],"class_list":["post-12707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-court-and-crime","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-politics-and-analysis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}