Wexford man who called garda ‘a filthy pig’ twice is fined €300
Wexford PeopleA Wexford man was fined €300 following a public order incident involving a garda carrying out a traffic stop.
Garda Boyle told Wexford District Court that on February 27, 2025, he was conducting a traffic stop near the Talbot Hotel in Wexford when a pedestrian, who was not connected to the stop, approached him.
The pedestrian, later identified as Ciaran McCall (52), of 36 William Street, Wexford, said to the garda: “You’re holding up the entire place you filthy pig.” When Garda Boyle responded that he was simply carrying out his duty, McCall replied: “Your duty as a filthy pig.”
The garda stated there was a strong smell of alcohol from McCall who he described as being aggressive from the outset.
Andrew Bolger BL, counsel for the accused, said McCall denied the charges and claimed the interaction described had not occurred on that date. Instead, he said a separate encounter had taken place the previous day on Monck Street.
McCall gave sworn evidence that on February 26 he had unfortunately buried his father in Wicklow, on his return to Wexford he had a drink in the pub and encountered Garda Boyle on his walk home. The accused stated the garda was struggling with a member of the public when he commented “go easy” before continuing his walk when he was stopped by Garda Boyle.
He denied making the remarks attributed to him, telling the court that the language described sounded “like a cowboy westerner”.
However, the court heard that custody records confirmed McCall had been taken into custody at the date and time outlined by Garda Boyle.
Judge Cheatle said it was highly unlikely that a member in charge would falsify official records in order to secure a conviction against an innocent person. He added that McCall may well have consumed alcohol that day, which could have clouded his recollection of events.
The judge said he was satisfied with the garda’s version of events and imposed a fine of €300 with six months to pay.