Paul Rooney gets suspended sentence for assaulting garda

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

Paul Rooney received a fully suspended two-and-a-half-year sentence for assaulting a garda at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 25 March 2021. He had pleaded guilty to attacking Garda Patrick Barker on Beaver Street, Dublin, on 19 January 2019, after being caught dragging a bike attached to a rack.

The court heard Rooney punched Garda Barker five or six times in the face, causing a cut to his nose. Rooney, who has an acquired brain injury and 37 previous convictions, was not imprisoned because of his medical history, but the sentence was suspended in full on strict conditions.

Judge Martin Nolan said Rooney had behaved well since the previous hearing but expressed concern about his continued offending. The judge said Rooney would have to conform and ordered the sentence to remain subject to the stated conditions.