Assaulted three gardaí at Monaghan Garda Station

A 20-YEAR-OLD woman who assaulted three gardaí, while they tried to arrest her at Monaghan Garda Station, was given consecutive prison sentences amounting to 16 months when the incident, together with a number of other charges, was dealt with at Monaghan District Court recently.

Leila Murray, with an address given at Doon Heights, Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, had pleaded guilty to assaulting Edward Hammond, Edward Sheppard and Paul Lynch, all members of An Garda Síochána on January 17, 2025.

The defendant had also admitted being one of a group of people involved in a violent disorder incident at Monaghan town’s Old Cross Square on April 9, 2024.

The court was told that Ms Murray came from a very troubled, “horrendous” background, and that she had spent much time in care in Northern Ireland, where she had also accumulated 30 convictions.

At an earlier hearing Judge Raymond Finnegan heard that the defendant had developed addictions to crack cocaine, heroin and drink.

LARGE FIGHT

Giving an outline of what had happened at Monaghan’s Old Cross Square over two years ago, Inspector Declan McGarvey said that, at 9:50pm on the night in question, gardaí received a report of a large fight on the street outside McConnon’s shop.

The officers had spoken to a number of people who appeared intoxicated, and CCTV identified Ms Murray as one of those involved. The footage showed a lot of people converging on one or two others outside the shop. A lot of those involved were pulling and dragging, including the defendant, while some of the males were throwing punches.

Regarding the assaults on gardaí at the station in Monaghan, a victim impact statement was handed into court on behalf of Gda Hammond, while it was indicated that the other two officers did not elect to make statements.

Insp McGarvey said the defendant had been shouting abuse in the public office, and had been removed from that area and directed by Gda Lynch to leave the building. After she left, the doors of the station were closed but she began kicking and punching them.

This resulted in her arrest for engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour, and it was during the course of her arrest she assaulted all three members while they were trying to restrain her. Gda Lynch was scraped on the left hand, Gda Sheppard was punched on the forehead, and Gda Hammond was bitten on the right forearm.

The inspector said Ms Murray had 30 previous convictions for assault in Northern Ireland, most of which were for attacks on police officers.

Solicitor Roisin Courtney - who was in a position to speak despite the solicitors’ strike because her client was in custody - said Leila came from a very troubled background and was in care since being a young child.

FELT LET DOWN

She felt that Tusla, the Child and Family Agency had let her down, but was admitting she “went down the wrong path” and developed serious addiction issues. Again emphasising the “horrendous background”, Ms Courtney said her client is now willing to accept whatever sentence she is given but asked the court to be as lenient as it can.

Judge Finnegan told the lawyer he was sure she would have advised Leila of the court’s attitude towards anyone interfering with members of the gardaí, or any other frontline workers. It was something that would not be tolerated, he said.

The judge imposed four-month prison sentences for the three assaults on the officers at Monaghan, making them consecutive, adding another four months, again consecutive, for Murray’s involvement in the Old Cross Square incident.

Clarifying that this came to 16 months in total, Judge Finnegan backdated the prison term to May 20 when the defendant was taken into custody. He said he hoped Leila would use the time in jail to get some help and “try to sort things out for herself”.

* This article was published with support from the Court Reporting Scheme