Father of two ‘spat’ in face of garda at local music festival

A father of two with more than a dozen convictions to his name has pleaded guilty to spitting in the face of a garda sergeant following a disturbance at the Westmeath Bachelor Festival two years ago.

Thirty-year-old Dwayne McKevitt, of 149 Dalton Park, Mullingar was directed to undergo a restorative justice assessment by Judge Bernadette Owens following his appearance at Mullingar District Court last Friday.

Mr McKevitt had earlier tendered a guilty plea to assaulting Sgt Ambrose Duggan contrary to Section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 as a result of an incident at Blackhall, Mullingar, on April 29, 2022.

The accused, it was revealed, had been out socialising at the Westmeath Bachelor Festival when the incident unfolded shortly before 11pm. Sgt Paul McNally said Sgt Duggan spoke with Mr McKevitt, who was “highly intoxicated”, to say the event was over.

On being asked to leave, Sgt McNally said Mr McKevitt told Sgt Duggan he would be finishing his drink before exiting.

It was at that stage, Sgt McNally said, that Mr McKevitt proceeded to consume the drink before turning towards Sgt Duggan where he spat the contents of the alcohol into his face.

The court heard Mr McKevitt also had to be restrained by gardaí during his arrest moments later and ahead of his transfer to Mullingar Garda Station.

Sgt McNally said his colleague also had to decontaminate himself following the incident owing to the ongoing prevalence of Covid-19.

The court was also told Mr McKevitt had 15 previous convictions, a number of which were for public order related offences, the most recent being recorded two months prior to the assault charge on Sgt Duggan.

The case, which had been scheduled to begin earlier in the court’s morning session, was delayed due to issues raised by the defence over the contents contained in a victim impact statement.

Louis Kiernan, defending, said its contents when furnished to the defence at the start of proceedings last Friday were almost “entirely inadmissible”.

That said, Mr Kiernan said Mr McKevitt accepted his guilt to what he described as a “horrible” set of circumstances that simply should not have happened.

Mr Kiernan said the accused was a devoted father to his two young daughters and was someone who had laboured with anxiety and depression “pretty much all his life”.

He said those challenges had been compounded somewhat by the loss of both his parents before their respective 50th birthdays.

“It was a horrible incident and should not have happened,” he said.

“Sgt Duggan was there doing his job. He had gone over to Wayne earlier in the evening to give him a warning about his boisterous behaviour. Spirits were high in that he was at the Bachelor Festival and had too much drink and he accepted that in his statement.”

Mr Kiernan added how Mr McKevitt had also apologised in a voluntary caution statement despite the accused stating in that apology of his insistence that the contents of any alcohol being spilled on Sgt Duggan was “100pc accidental”.

Mr Kiernan stated: “What did happen was that he had literally just bought a pint of Guinness, which he then literally knocked on the head and said he wanted to finish his pint. In fairness to Sgt Duggan he allowed him to do that, but then there was an interaction between them which resulted in his arrest.”

Judge Owens, in referencing concerns the defence had concerning Sgt Duggan’s victim impact statement, stressed the court was in no way excluding such correspondence in making its ruling on the case.

She said the state was entitled to tender one provided it fell within the parameters of what such statements should contain.

Judge Owens said another option open to the court was for it to direct a restorative justice report by probation service personnel, which, she said, would allow the victim the opportunity to engage in such a process if they wish to do so.

Sgt McNally said that suggestion was acceptable to the state and Mr Kiernan said Mr McKevitt was equally open to it.

Judge Owens consequently remanded Mr McKevitt on bail to a sitting of Mullingar District Court on January 10, 2025.