'You look more like Father Ted and Dougal,' man told gardaí when they identified themselves

A man who was found lying amongst nettles in a public carpark became abusive when gardaí tried to assist him because he did not recognise their uniforms a recent sitting of Clonakilty District Court was told.

Giving evidence Garda Martin O’Regan said that he responded to a report on May 29 2023 of a man lying on the ground at the rear of Deasy’s Carpark in Clonakilty. Garda O’Regan told the court that he arrived at the scene at 7:40pm where he found Gavin Sexton, aged 47, of Carhue, Timoleague asleep amongst a patch of nettles at the rear of the carpark. Garda O’Regan said that when he awoke, Mr Sexton was in a “very dishevelled state” had his shirt pulled up across his back revealing he was badly sunburned and smelled strongly of alcohol.

The court heard that Mr Sexton became abusive towards gardaí and when they identified themselves as members of An Garda Síochána he refused to believe them.

He said: 

“Fuck off, you are not guards. You look more like Father Ted and Dougal. I can’t even have a drink without being harassed by f***ing muppets like you.” 

Garda Mark Curtis who also attended the scene said that Mr Sexton had several unopened cans of Guinness next to him when he was discovered and warned gardaí: 

“Don’t touch me or I’ll kill ye.” 

Garda Curtis said that Mr Sexton was very unsteady on his feet and eventually had to be helped to a waiting garda van after he was arrested.

Defence solicitor Colette McCarthy said that her client — who did not appear in court — had told her that he spent a lot of time in the UK and for this reason was not familiar with the new garda uniforms. She said that he also suffered from a sleep deprivation condition and on the day in question he had not slept for four days. She added that he had been out with his nephew who had called a taxi for him but he had then fallen asleep.

The court heard that Mr Sexton had 11 previous convictions including for public order offences and a suspended sentence that was current at the time of the offence.

Judge James McNulty said that it was Mr Sexton’s responsibility to be aware of his situation and noted that Mr Sexton had later gone to Clonakilty Garda Station and apologised to Garda O’Regan for his behaviour.

He convicted Mr Sexton on one count under Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act and held one count under Section 4 in consideration and fined Mr Sexton €500.