A man who was arrested after being found in possession of a suspicious object, which he told a court he was using for “sexual purposes”, has had his case dismissed due to a failure by gardai to cite the appropriate legislation before searching him.
Barry Horan (55), of De Selby Green, Tallaght, Dublin 24, had been stopped and questioned by gardai at an Applegreen petrol station on Fortunestown Road, Tallaght, on 6th April 2024, in relation to a public order matter.
When asked by Garda Aaron Murphy if he was in possession of a firearm or offensive weapon, Mr Horan replied that he had an object in his pocket which he initially explained was for “self-defence”. He was arrested, cautioned and brought to Tallaght Garda Station under Section 9(1) and (7) of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act.
In Tallaght District Court on Monday, Garda Murphy produced a sharp, green steel object contained in a clear plastic bag for Judge Patricia McNamara to examine. Judge McNamara noted that the alleged “weapon” looked very much like a key ring.
Counsel for the accused, Ms Lauren Flanagan BL, told the court that she had been instructed by Mr Horan to say that he “uses the object for sexual purposes”.
This prompted laughter in the courtroom, with Judge McNamara remarking that this was “an unusual explanation – normally (the explanation) is that it’s for work or things like that.”
During cross-examination, however, Garda Murphy admitted that he had not informed Mr Horan of the legal power under which he was being searched.
Mr Horan’s counsel argued that gardaí must invoke a specific power – Section 16 of the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act – before conducting a search. Since no such power was cited at the time, she submitted that the search was unlawful and that the item seized was inadmissible as evidence.
Judge McNamara said she accepted the defence’s application to dismiss the case on technical grounds. While noting that possession of a sharply pointed object in public is an offence, she ruled that the search had not been properly conducted and the case was dismissed.
She told Mr Horan: “You can’t have with you a blade which is sharply pointed. Just to be aware, you can’t have in public an object that could be considered an offensive weapon.”