A man who "over reacted" when his small dog got in to a fight with two Labradors and who had to be handcuffed and restrained by gardai as they waited for a back up van to bring him to the garda station has been jailed for a year.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that Marius Karanauskas of Upper Bridge Street in Skibbereen , Co Cork was sitting outside a café with his small dog when the animal came from under his feet on an extendable lead. His dog was involved in a fight with two bigger dogs. The small dog needed stitches and had to be kept in the vets overnight.
Garda Jonathan O’Donovan said that gardai received a call shortly after 4pm on the 29th of March last where they were informed that there had been an altercation between a man and woman off the Main Square in Skibbereen.
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He said when he and another garda got to the scene they observed a woman with two Labrador dogs and a male kneeling on the ground with a small dog. The man was in an agitated state.
He said that it was established that a fight had occurred between the two bigger dogs and the smaller dog. After the fight between the dogs Mr Karanauskas "did two kicks out at the (Labrador) dogs" but didn’t connect with them. The female owner of the bigger dogs became afraid and ran towards the Main Street.
Garda O'Donovan said that a hunting knife fell from the pocket of the defendant and that it wasn't produced in a threatening manner towards anyone present.
Garda O’Donovan said that two witnesses saw the defendant hand the knife to another male who put it in to his trousers and walked in to a lane way. The knife, which was ten inches in length, was subsequently recovered by gardai in the lane way.
Garda O'Donovan said that the 45-year-old Lithuanian national was very agitated. Garda O’Donovan and another officer tried to arrest him. However, he resisted arrest and had to be handcuffed. Gardai had to restrain him for thirty minutes before the back up van arrived to transport him to the garda station.
Garda O’Donovan said that the defendant was highly intoxicated. He tried to free himself from his handcuffs.
“He tried to kick out at us with his legs. We called for the control van. We had to restrain him against a car for thirty minutes. He was shouting calling us motherf***ers.”
Questioning had to be suspended overnight to allow the Co Op worker to sober up. Garda O’Donovan said that the father of one struggled with alcohol and had three previous convictions in this jurisdiction for public order offences. They also established that he is the subject of a European Arrest Warrant for an outstanding portion of a prison sentence in Belgium which related to a fraud case.
Mr Karanauskas pleaded guilty to a charge of obstructing gardai, a charge of engaging in threatening behaviour and to possession of a knife. The prosecution did not proceed with charges of the accused man allegedly threatening to kill the dog owner and another woman.
In a victim impact statement, the female owner of the bigger dogs said that it had been a “life altering experience.”
“I was terrified and frightened for my life. It has left me feeling vulnerable and anxious. This fear has not left me. This fear is always present in my life. "
Defence solicitor Sinead Behan said that the situation had escalated, and matters had gotten “over heated.” She said that it wasn’t a premeditated offence and her client had accepted that he had “overreacted and went too far. “
Judge Dara Hayes stressed that whilst people can be “very attached to their animals” the behaviour on the day from Karanauskas was totally unacceptable. He said that the defendant was very aggressive to gardai who were only trying to do their jobs and that he had "significantly over reacted and created a significant public order offence."
He noted that Karanauskas had enhanced prisoner status. However, considering his other convictions Judge Hayes said that the accused he wasn’t a person of “otherwise good character.”
Judge Hayes said that he had no doubt that it was "a terrifying experience for the dog owner."
He jailed the defendant for 18 months suspending the last six months of the sentence. The sentence was back dated to March 30 when Mr Karanauskas first entered custody in relation to the offence.
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