Ceraldo Eyken denies assaulting prison officer at trial

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Ceraldo Eyken denied assault causing harm to prison officer Gareth Sheeran at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The charge arose from an alleged incident at Dublin’s Cloverhill Prison on 11 April 2009. The proceedings were reported on 6 October 2015.

The report said Eyken was accused of severing a tendon in Sheeran’s wrist with a meal tray. Sheeran said he was caught in the middle of a dispute and raised his hands to block the tray, which Eyken had raised with both hands. Sheeran required 19 stitches and underwent plastic surgery the following day. He told the court he suffered permanent nerve damage and a constant tingling sensation in his wrist.

Eyken told gardaí that another prisoner pushed him down stairs. He said he got up to defend himself with his tray and hit the other prisoner. He said the other man broke his tray and that Sheeran hurt his hand on the broken tray when he came to separate them. Eyken said he would never hit an officer and felt bad that Sheeran had been hurt.

The trial was continuing before Judge Sarah Berkeley and a jury.