Dean O’Neill jailed for assaulting two gardaí

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

Judge Pauline Codd sentenced Dean O’Neill to 20 months in prison on 7 March 2024, with the final six months suspended. The proceedings were reported on 7 March 2024.

O’Neill pleaded guilty to two counts of assaulting a peace officer in the course of their duties. A further count of making threats to kill or cause serious harm was taken into consideration.

The court heard that O’Neill became aggressive and abusive when officers told him they would search him at Kevin Street Garda station following his arrest on 13 April 2023. He threatened to bite the first person who came near him and told gardaí he had HIV. He bit one officer during the search; the officer’s glove was damaged but his skin was not broken.

After four gardaí restrained O’Neill and took him to a cell, he attempted to bite and spit at officers during a further search. Another officer felt a burning sensation and saw a tooth indentation on his hand, but his skin was not broken. The court heard that O’Neill did not have HIV. Neither officer required medical treatment; both later resigned for unrelated reasons.

Sgt Hugh O’Carroll agreed with defence counsel Nicola Cox that O’Neill had been arrested after being found with unprescribed medication. It was accepted that he was intoxicated at the time. Cox said he had struggled with addiction since his teens and had no reason or rationale for his behaviour.

O’Neill had 109 previous convictions. Judge Codd treated those convictions as an aggravating factor and his guilty plea, background and efforts to address his drug issues as mitigating factors. She said he was at the “last chance saloon stage” of his life and needed to address his addiction.