Convicted murderer at 'low ebb' told garda he was worse than the 'Russians' and to ‘f**k off’

John Small (65), Mullaharlin Park, Dublin Road, Dundalk, pleaded guilty to three Public Order charges.

Giving details of previous convictions against the defendant, court presenter Sgt Jimmy McGovern said there was a murder conviction in the UK on 5 February 1981.

Regarding the incident before the court, evidence was heard that at 9.30pm on 28 February last at Mounthamilton, Carrick Road, a garda saw Small fall on the footpath.

He was told to leave the area and refused, saying to the officer, ‘F*** off, you prick’.

The defendant turned his back on the guard, held his hands up and said to him, ‘Arrest me. You are worse than the Russians, you Ukrainian prick’.

Solicitor Barry Callan said his client was living in Dundalk for twenty years and had worked as a night porter in a ‘local hotel’, a job he had to give up to care for his mother who passed away in 2018.

He struggled with alcohol and was ‘at a low ebb’ on this occasion.

In addition to the fine, charges of being intoxicated in public and failing to comply with the direction of a garda were taken into consideration.

Legal aid was granted.