Australian had to be restrained by four staff at Cork Airport

A man caused such a disturbance at Cork Aiport recently that it took four members of security staff to restrain him as he shouted: “F*** ye, I’ll get ye all and I’ll kill ye”, while members of the public were present.

Jackson Twomey (27) of Bay Street, Mosman, Sydney, Australia, was before Cork District Court on Monday, where he pleaded guilty to two charges arising out of the disturbance at lunchtime last Friday.

He admitted engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour and resisting Garda Mairéad Enneguess at the terminal building of Cork Airport on September 11.

Sergeant John Dineen said: “At 1.20pm, gardaí were notified by airport security at Cork International Airport that there was a man, namely Jackson Twomey, acting in a violent, threatening, and aggressive manner, resulting in him being restrained by four personnel from airport security.

“On arrival of gardaí, Jackson Twomey was lashing out with his legs and hands and was being erratic, resisted arrest, and shouted: ‘F*** ye, I’ll get ye all and I’ll kill ye’, while members of the public were present.”

Frank Buttimer, solicitor, said of the defendant: “He is from Sydney, he lives with his parents. His father comes from Cork and his mother is an Australian citizen.

“He is a very decent, pleasant young man who is extremely apologetic for what happened.”

Mr Buttimer said there was a mental health diagnosis in Australia for Mr Twomey and consequent medication, which may not have been appropriate, as the young man had an adverse reaction to it.

“Interestingly, two days before this [the September 11 episode in Cork Airport] he had an interaction of a similar nature in the same location with An Garda Síochána, and it was determined [on September 9] there were mental health difficulties,” Mr Buttimer said, adding that his client faced a criminal prosecution instead arising out of the second event.

“In effect, he has spent two days in custody, and his mental health concern is, regrettably, ongoing. He has never been in trouble like this in his life.”

The solicitor said the defendant’s family was keen for him to be home in Sydney where he can get treatment.

Judge David Waters said: “I am mindful to leave him without a conviction, and I take into consideration his mental health situation. I think it is appropriate for him to make a contribution to the Garda charity, Little Blue Heroes.”

A contribution of €400 was made, and on that being done, Judge Waters struck out the two charges against him.