An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na<\/a> were deployed to the hotel and they discharged a taser and pepper spray to subdue and apprehend the accused.<\/p>\nO\u2019Sullivan, instructed by State solicitor for Limerick City, Padraig Mawe, and assisted by Det Gda 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 garda\u00ed as 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
O\u2019Sullivan said Cullen used the fire extinguishers as a \u201cweapon\u201d causing almost \u20ac40,000 worth of damage at the hotel.<\/p>\n
Walsh played a series of CCTV clips which the prosecution alleged showed the accused trashing 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 O\u2019Sullivan.<\/p>\n
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
Walsh said the footage also showed the accused discharging two fire extinguishers around the hotel.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Sullivan read witness statements to the court 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 witness said her daughter \u201cwet herself\u201d out of \u201cfear\u201d, and that she had \u201cnever seen her so traumatised\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 woman said the man \u201clunged\u201d at her pregnant sister \u201cwith his hands\u201d and shouted \u201cwhen am I going to see my kids\u201d.<\/p>\n
The woman said the man was \u201cranting\u201d and he struck her husband on his left arm with the fire extinguisher.<\/p>\n
The family retreated out of the hotel via an emergency exit along with a group of US tourists and they all took refuge in a nearby apartment block.<\/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
\u201cHe said he was going to smash me in the face, he had a look of rage in his eyes, he left a trail of destruction in the bar,\u201d Bradshaw told garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n
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
Walsh told the court that the accused initially \u201cresisted\u201d arrest but he eventually complied, and told garda\u00ed: \u201cOkay, okay, I\u2019m sorry about this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The accused was initially detained under the Mental Health Act as garda\u00ed believed he may have had a mental breakdown and a psychotic episode.<\/p>\n
The trial continues on Wednesday before a jury of six women and six men.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An orthopaedic surgeon has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of assaulting three people, producing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491560,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[45,61,60,1396,43],"class_list":["post-491559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-limerick","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491559","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=491559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491559\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}