Man with 'chequered past' arrested for Liffey boardwalk brawl

Derek Cooling (27) accepted that the fight with another man might have "frightened" the many passers-by who saw it, Dublin District Court heard.

Judge Bryan Smyth gave him a two-month suspended sentence.

Cooling, from Clondalkin but of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour.

Garda Graham Johnson said he was on patrol at Bachelor's Walk at 9.20pm on November 11 last year when he saw two men fighting on the boardwalk.

When gardaí approached, they stopped and were arrested.

There were "many members of the public passing by", Gda Johnson said.

Cooling had 37 previous convictions.

He was apologetic for the fight and although he and the other man were known to each other, he appreciated it might have frightened members of the public, his barrister said.

Once the gardaí identified themselves, both men "put their hands up."

The lawyer accepted his client had a "chequered past" and had spent time in custody.

The accused became addicted to drugs - pills and cocaine - at a young age and lost any decent relationship with his parents and siblings as a result, his barrister said.

Cooling had worked in waste disposal but that employment had dried up.

Judge Smyth suspended the sentence for a year.