{"id":491103,"date":"2026-06-09T18:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T18:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/491103\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T18:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T18:47:10","slug":"surgeon-denies-assaulting-three-people-and-thrashing-hotel-by-reason-of-insanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/491103\/","title":{"rendered":"Surgeon denies assaulting three people and thrashing hotel by reason of insanity"},"content":{"rendered":"

David Raleigh<\/p>\n

An orthopaedic surgeon pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, on Tuesday, to charges of assaulting three people, producing a fire extinguisher as a weapon, and causing criminal damage, at a Limerick City hotel, three years ago.<\/p>\n

Dr Emmett Cullen, (50), of Silverbrook, Mill Road, Corbally, Limerick, was a guest staying at the hotel when he went \u201ccompletely berserk\u201d there, on May 4th, 2023, alleged prosecuting barrister John O\u2019Sullivan BL.<\/p>\n

Dr Cullen armed himself with two fire extinguishers, thrashing parts of the hotel, and assaulted other guests, Mr O\u2019Sullivan alleged on the opening day of the trial being held at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.<\/p>\n

Members of the Armed Support Unit (ASU) attached to An Garda Siochana were deployed to the hotel and they discharged a taser and pepper spray to subdue and apprehend the accused, it was heard.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Sullivan, instructed by State Solicitor for Limerick City, Padraig Mawe, and assisted by Detective Garda Gareth Walsh, said the accused \u201cwent completely out of control\u201d at the hotel on the second night of a two-night stay.<\/p>\n

CCTV footage was shown in court of a man identified by gardai as Dr Cullen \u201cswinging\u201d a fire extinguisher at guests and patrons, throwing chairs, smashing televisions, glasses, tables and lights, during the 20-minute \u201cordeal\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Sullivan said Dr Cullen used the fire extinguishers as a \u201cweapon\u201d causing almost \u20ac40,000 worth of damage at the hotel, located at Steamboat Quay, Limerick City.<\/p>\n

Detective Garda Walsh played a series of CCTV clips which the prosecution alleged showed the accused thrashing the hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s also evident is the accused lunges at two children after shouting at them. He is also seen chasing these two children and is stopped by their mother,\u201d said Mr O\u2019Sullivan.<\/p>\n

Detective Garda Walsh identified the accused in the footage swinging a fire extinguisher at two women aged in their 70s, and smashing a table they were sitting at causing cuts to their fingers.<\/p>\n

Garda Walsh said the footage also showed the accused discharging two fire extinguishers around the hotel.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Sullivan read to the court witness statements provided by a family who were staying at the hotel on the night.<\/p>\n

One of the witnesses told garda\u00ed she heard a man \u201cshouting\u201d as he approached her seven-year-old daughter and 14-year-old niece, calling them \u201cevil\u201d.<\/p>\n

The woman, who was pregnant at the time, said the man \u201cattempted to assault me\u201d and her father intervened, and \u201cwe got out of the way\u201d.<\/p>\n

The woman\u2019s sister told garda\u00ed she also saw a man \u201cholding a fire extinguisher\u201d and \u201cshouting\u201d at the children.<\/p>\n

The hotel\u2019s night manager, Kieran Bradshaw, who was on duty at the time, told garda\u00ed that prior to the incident, the accused wanted to upgrade from his room to the hotel\u2019s penthouse suite, but he was informed it was not available.<\/p>\n

Mr Bradshaw said, later that night, he heard a man he now knows to be the accused shouting, \u201cWhere are my kids?\u201d, brandishing a fire extinguisher, verbally abusing two children and thrashing the hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said he was going to smash me in the face, he had a look of rage in his eyes, and he left a trail of destruction in the bar,\u201d Mr Bradshaw told garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n

Detective Garda Walsh said two armed garda\u00ed eventually subdued the accused in the hotel\u2019s restaurant kitchen after discharging a taser and pepper spray.<\/p>\n

Det Garda Walsh said the accused told the garda\u00ed, \u201cI won\u2019t get back,” and he asked, \u201cWhere are my kids?\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Former<\/p>\n

Ireland<\/p>\n

Former rugby star Brendan Mullin accused of stealing perfume from Brown Thomas<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Det Garda Walsh said the accused initially \u201cresisted\u201d arrest, but he eventually complied and told garda\u00ed: \u201cOk, ok, I\u2019m sorry about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Garda agreed with Mr O\u2019Sullivan that he initially detained the accused \u201cunder Section 12 of the Mental Health Act, as you believed the accused may have had a mental breakdown and a psychotic episode\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gard Walsh also told the accused\u2019s barrister, senior counsel Anthony Salmon, with Aaron Desmond BL, instructed by Hebert & Co Solicitors, that Section 12 of the Act \u201cgives me power to arrest if I believe (a suspect) is of unsound mind or in a mental health episode\u201d.<\/p>\n

The trial continues on Wednesday before a jury of six women and six men.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Raleigh An orthopaedic surgeon pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, on Tuesday, to charges of assaulting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491104,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-491103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491103","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=491103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491103\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}