A former Labour TD said that he was “utterly and completely shocked” when he was pepper-sprayed by a garda outside his Clare home in December 2016.
In evidence at Ennis district court yesterday, Michael McNamara, 43, said that his “eyes were burning out of my head” after the incident at 2.10am on December 10.
The court was told that Garda Darren McLoughlin had pursued Mr McNamara, a TD at the time, in his patrol car to his home at Tobernagath, Scarriff, on suspicion of drink-driving.
Mr McNamara passed a breath test for alcohol at Killaloe garda station later that night but was banned from driving for two years and fined €400 after Judge John King convicted him of dangerous driving.
Judge King said that there was evidence that Mr McNamara was driving at excessive speed in the centre of a dark, narrow, undulating road. “If there was a pedestrian on that road? If there was a cyclist?” the judge said.
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Martin Dully, BL, for Mr McNamara, said that a driving ban would be “exceptionally disastrous” for his client.
Mr Dully said that there was evidence that Mr McNamara was driving 20km/h in excess of the speed limit and this did not amount to “dangerous driving”. He said Mr McNamara was a man “of exemplary character” and had no previous convictions. Judge King dismissed a second charge against Mr McNamara that he had obstructed a garda in the course of his duties. The judge said it would be “unfair and unsafe” to convict Mr McNamara of the obstruction charge as Garda McLoughlin had not specifically advised Mr McNamara that he was invoking Section 7 of the Road Traffic Act concerning a garda entering the area of a person’s home.
Mr Dully said that Garda McLoughlin “emptied the entire contents of the pepper spray can inches away from Mr McNamara’s face”.
“I will never forget it as long as I live — in my own yard, pepper-sprayed, hand-cuffed and thrown into the back of a car,” Mr McNamara told the court. He said that he was not abusive at any stage.
He denied evidence from Garda McLoughlin that he made three attempts to dash into his home and that Garda McLoughlin applied the pepper spray on his third attempt when trying to restrain him. Mr McNamara said that he had a couple of drinks earlier that night at a pub in Scarriff with the cast of a local production of Oliver.
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Mr Dully said that Garda McLouglin’s actions towards Mr McNamara were “utterly unreasonable”. Garda McLoughlin said: “I would say it was quite the opposite . . . I never encountered such a situation that night.”
He said that Mr McNamara was driving at 100km/h in a 80km/h zone and taking bends in the middle of the road.
Mr McNamara lost his Clare seat in the February 2016 general election.