Judge Kelly
IT took six Gardai to restrain a Co Donegal man after he was ejected from an ‘End of the World Party’ at a local nightclub, a court heard today.
Kevin Clarke, from Dresnagh, Castlefin, appeared before Letterkenny District Court on public order charges relating to the incident in the early hours of December 22 last at The Pulse nightclub in the town.
The disco was organised as a gimmick surrounding the belief by the ancient Mayan people of Mexico that the world would end on December 21 last year.
“Perhaps you thought the world was going to end and you’d get away with it,” remarked Judge Paul Kelly at today’s hearing.
The court heard that gardai arrived at The Pulse at 3am on December 22 and found Clarke in an altercation with bouncers.
They warned Clarke to leave the area but he then became aggressive.
“It took six gardai to restrain him and to put him into a Garda vehicle,” said the prosecuting inspector.
Defence solicitor Kieran Dillon said Clarke’s behaviour was completely out of character.
He said his client worked for a community group in Castlefin and was dedicated to making his community better.
“The circumstances, my client instructs me, were rather different. Mr Clarke’s brother had been ejected from the nightclub concerned in what they would say was a case of mistaken identity,” said Mr Dillon.
“Mr Clarke then saw one of the security staff punch his brother and he stepped in to intervene. It was at that moment that gardai arrived,” said the solicitor.
Judge Paul Kelly said: “Mr Clarke completely over-reacted. It took six gardai to restrain and gardai in this town have better things to be getting on with.
“Perhaps you believed the world was going to end you’d thought he’d get away with it!”
Judge Kelly said he wanted to adjourn the case for two weeks to consider his sentence.
He asked Mr Dillon to speak with the Castlefin Tidy Towns committee to see if they would facilitate Clarke in doing extra hours for no pay.