Hairdresser (52) found guilty of assaulting female garda

A HAIRDRESSER from Carlow town was last week found guilty at the local district court of assaulting a female garda when the garda called to her house after receiving a report of a row between a couple. Sallyann Sullivan, known as Sallyann Comiskey in court, of 16 Millrace Green, Carlow was found guilty of assaulting Garda Kate Cassidy, causing her harm, at that address on 26 May 2024.

Garda Cassidy told the court that she had received an anonymous call about a man being assaulted by a woman on the green in the estate, so she and Garda Eric Conway called to number 16 to make sure the man was safe.

Garda Cassidy said that a woman, Ms Sullivan (52), answered the door and swore at them, telling them to f*ck off and calling them names such as “fat f*ckers”.

She said that Ms Sullivan denied that there was a man in the house with her and that, when he came to the door, Ms Sullivan hit him on the back of his head and tried to get him into a headlock to get him away from the door. Garda Cassidy said at that stage she entered the house and stood between the couple.

Garda Eric Conway dragged the man out of the house and Ms Sullivan swung at her with an open hand and slapped her across the face, Garda Kate Cassidy explained.

Judge Cephas Power heard that Garda Cassidy arrested Ms Sullivan, put handcuffs on her and put her into the back of a patrol car, where she continued to act aggressively, kicking at the back windows. Garda Cassidy continued that her nose was bleeding and that the man asked her into the house so that she could clean herself up.

The court heard that the man admitted to being assaulted by Ms Sullivan but that he did not want to make a complaint against her.

Under cross-examination by solicitor Joe Farrell, Garda Cassidy denied insulting Ms Sullivan, calling her names or commenting on her clothes but did remember that the defendant was wearing white clothes at the time.

Garda Conway also gave evidence in which he said Ms Sullivan punched her partner in the head and that he, Garda Conway, put his foot in the doorway so that she couldn’t slam the door on him and his colleague. He told the court that he saw Ms Sullivan slap Garda Cassidy with an open hand, causing her nose to bleed.

Under cross-examination by Mr Farrell, Garda Conway said that they entered Ms Sullivan’s house because they were concerned about the welfare of her partner. He also denied calling Ms Sullivan names or jeering at her about her clothes.

Evidence was also heard that Ms Sullivan’s finger was cut and, in her own direct evidence, Ms Sullivan said that she was a hairdresser and so cutting her fingers was an occupational hazard.

Ms Sullivan told Judge Power that it was she who called the gardaí, anonymously, because she wanted her partner to go home. She said that they had had an argument but denied assaulting him and that “everything was OK” when the gardaí knocked on her door.

She said that the gardaí laughed at her, calling her a junkie and laughing at her tennis whites.

“They said things to me, so I probably said things back,” she said.

She denied punching her partner in the back of his head but said that she did try to pull him away from the door. She also told Judge Power that Garda Cassidy “dived” on her and that “no-one had ever dived” on her before.

“If she got injured, it was unintentional. It was just one of those things,” Ms Sullivan told the court.

She also said that when she was being processed at Carlow Garda Station, the gardaí were jeering at her for having cellulite on her legs and about her wearing tennis whites. Ms Sullivan said that she was “shocked” at their behaviour because she was “old school” and did not expect gardaí to behave like that.

Judge Power found Ms Sullivan guilty as charged. He noted that Garda Cassidy was assaulted during the course of her duty and that there were two different versions of events before the court. He said that “people lie for various reasons” and that he found the evidence by the gardaí to be reasonable and “beyond criticism”.

After his client was found guilty, Mr Farrell said that she had €500 in court to offer as a donation to the Garda Benevolent Fund as a way of avoiding a conviction.

However, Judge Power rejected the offer, stating that the case crossed the threshold for a custodial sentence. He added, however, that he did not think that it would be beneficial to imprison the defendant and noted that even though she hadn’t apologised for her actions, she was “still entitled to stick to her version of events”.

He then convicted Ms Sullivan and sentenced her to prison for four months but suspended it in full for a period of 12 months, ordering her to keep the peace during that time.