Early morning racist attack in Cork city shop sees man jailed

A man racially abused a member of staff at a city centre Spar shop and returned later having stripped off his shirt and armed himself with a knife.

This was the scenario described by Sergeant Gearóid Davis at Cork District Court where the accused man was jailed for eleven months arising out of this attack and other incidents.

After repeatedly striking a Covid plexiglass screen with the knife, Patrick O’Driscoll, stopped before he left the store on St. Patrick’s Street, Cork, unwrapped a bar of chocolate and ate it.

Eddie Burke, solicitor, said there was a lot of bravado from the accused. Judge Olann Kelleher said that more than that it was a racist incident.

Acknowledging that the defendant pleaded guilty the judge imposed a sentence that was just one month short of the maximum.

Sergeant Davis said the incident occurred on June 25 at the Spar which is near the Daunt Square end of St. Patrick’s Street.

“He entered the shop to buy something but attempted to use a product to wipe his nose. When he was asked to leave he became aggressive and spat at the staff member and told him to “go back to your own country”.

“He threw products on to the shop floor and left. He returned seconds later with his top off and made numerous attempts to fight the staff member. He was punching the plexiglass screen repeatedly and spat at the staff member a second time. He went away again and returned seconds later with a knife.

“He then struck the plexiglass screen with the knife and threatened to kill the staff member placing him in fear. He then went to the access door to the tills and struck the door with the knife causing damage to same.

“He continued to be aggressive. He then ate a chocolate bar he had not paid for and subsequently left the store.” 

Oddly, it all happened just before eight o’clock in the morning. He was found a short time later on St. Patrick’s Street wearing the same clothes as described by witnesses at the scene.

Earlier in the year on January 20 he was involved in a fight with another man on Anglesea Terrace and he shouted at members of An Garda Síochána to f*** off. His eyes were glazed and his speech was slurred.

And in a third incident on April 10, Patrick O’Driscoll told a member of An Garda Síochána, “I don’t give a f*** if you arrest me. You are a big ugly c***. You want to be like me.” 

Mr Burke said CCTV of the incident at Spar showed the accused banging on the screen with a knife while another member of staff was working away beside the accused, picking up bars of chocolate and tidying the areas that were being disrupted by O’Driscoll.

While Patrick O’Driscoll has 30 previous convictions it was not until September 2021 that – at the age of 28 – he began to get his first convictions. Mr Burke said that before this the young man had a full working history and even had his own business which he set up in 2017. But he said Covid brought his business to an end and he suffered from mental health and depression difficulties. He ended up living between the streets and the Simon night shelter.

“He accepts he was absolutely wrong for what he did (at the Spar shop),” Mr Burke said.

The Director of Public Prosecutions directed that the criminal damage and assault charges from that case could only be dealt with at Cork District Court on a plea of guilty.