Courts / Louth / Report

'Tell me I'm the surgeon. I'm the daddy': violent criminal kept in solitary after samurai sword attack on gardai

Date
2022-12-06

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dundalk

County
Louth

Summary

Brendan Cummins, aged 27, was convicted of multiple violent offences. In April and May 2019 he stabbed two men in Dundalk with a Stanley knife, leaving serious wounds and threatening them with death. On June 5, 2019, while being arrested by the Garda Armed Support Unit, he attacked a garda with a samurai sword, denting the garda's ballistics shield. In August 2020 he threw boiling water at a prison officer at Midlands Prison, and in January 2021 he assaulted two more officers, threatening to kill one. Cummins pleaded guilty to all counts. He has 19 prior convictions, including eight for assault. He has spent three and a half years in solitary confinement at the National Violence Reduction Unit, a period described by his defence counsel as "not appropriate treatment." The case was adjourned for finalisation.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: 'Tell me I'm the surgeon. I'm the daddy': violent criminal kept in solitary after samurai sword attack on gardai. Charges or matters: two counts of assault causing harm to two men in addresses in Dundalk on dates in April and May, 2019; the endangerment of a garda at his home address on June 5, 2019; one count of assault causing harm to a prison officer at Midlands Prison, Laois on August 14, 2020 and two further counts of assault causing harm to two other prison officers on January 31, 2021. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

June 5, 2019 Incident
August 14, 2020 Incident
January 31, 2021 Incident
April 27, 2019 Incident
May 10 Hearing Or Sentence
June 5 Incident
August 2020 Hearing Or Sentence
January 2021 Incident
January 23 Adjournment
2022-12-06 Publication

Case subjects

Unnamed man

Defendant

Charges: two counts of assault causing harm to two men in addresses in Dundalk on dates in April and May, 2019; the endangerment of a garda at his home address on June 5, 2019; one count of assault causing harm to a prison officer at Midlands Prison, Laois on August 14, 2020 and two further counts of assault causing harm to two other prison officers on January 31, 2021 (Admitted)

Plea: Guilty

Outcome: He urged the judge to structure his sentence in a way that will give him hope for his future.; Judge Orla Crowe adjourned the matter for finalisation on January 23 next year.