'I am from Barcelona — I know nothing': ‘Fawlty Towers’ reply to garda query

A CORK man made a violent threat against a member of An Garda Síochána and when asked his name he said: “I am from Barcelona — I know nothing.”

Ian O’Sullivan decided to use the immortal words of the Fawlty Towers waiter, Manuel, at the height of the public order incident after midnight on Washington Street. When the 42-year-old saw gardaí on Washington Street on July 1, his first remark to them was: “What the f*** are you looking at?”

Garda Ross Broekhuizen then asked Ian O’Sullivan, who is presently living at Cork Simon Community, to identify himself. That was when he made the Manuel-style reply.

However, matters took a more aggressive turn when he then stated to the garda in a threatening manner: 

“You are f***ed. I am going to have you fixed.” 

Sergeant John Kelleher said the accused had 168 previous convictions.

Joseph Cuddigan said the accused was pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity. He submitted that the accused had been in custody since July 5 and asked for any sentence to be backdated to that date.

Judge Olann Kelleher acceded to that submission as he imposed a two-month jail term.