A Judge has warned nightclub-goers to allow bouncers to do their jobs and not to interfere when trouble starts.
Judge Paul Kelly was speaking at Letterkenny District Court in Co Donegal in the case of a man who had to be pepper-sprayed by Gardai outside a nightclub.
Father-of-two Sam McGinley, aged 35, was ejected from Voodoo Nightclub in Letterkenny after a huge row broke out inside the club.
Several men including McGinley were put out onto the street by more than a dozen security staff on June 4th, 2016.
The trouble continued outside and three security staff tried to control McGinley by pinning him to the ground.
Garda Aaron Mulvaney told the court that he was the only Garda available who could respond to the call for help.
He said he asked McGinley to stop struggling which he failed to do and he was forced to pepper-spray him.
“He told me to f*** off and three security guards couldn’t control him so I was forced to deploy my pepper spray which had an immediate effect,” said Garda Mulvaney.
McGinley, of Maghernappin, Convoy, said he was on a stag party and that he was trying to get his uncle out of the nightclub.
He claimed a bouncer came behind him and put him unconscious by getting him in a headlock.
He said when he came around he felt blood coming down his face but could not get up as he was being retrained but had to later get 17 stitches as a result of an injury.
Judge Kelly said CCTV footage had shown McGinley struggling with bouncers but it in no way showed him being taken out of the nightclub “unconscious.”
He said he found the accused man’s behaviour was reckless and threatening outside the club.
He added that most incidents in bars and nightclubs would never happen if security staff were allowed to do their job without people interfering.
He found McGinley guilty and ordered him to keep the peace for 12 months.