Man charged with public order offence during Covid

A NAVAN man was arrested during after calling Gardaí the “state gestapo” and “nazis” when he was found outside with a group of people during Covid lockdown.

Darren Keogh (47), from Slane Road, Navan, was charged with a public order offence with the breach of Covid regulations charge struck out.

The court heard on 14th April 2020 gardai were on patrol during lockdown in the estate the accused resides in. Eight people were seen outside a house on the footpath. When Garda approached the group and advised they should leave Mr Keogh told them to "get the f**k off his property".

He refused to provide a name and address and went inside the house. He then went back outside the home and called the Garda a "state gestapo" and "nazis" before re-entering the home. He went out once more while Garda were dealing with the other people in the area before repeating his previous statements along with other profanities. He was subsequently arrested and detained.

He has no previous public order convictions with his most recent conviction occurring in 2017 for road traffic matters.

The court heard Mr Keogh made a plea to all matters on 6th January 2022 but did not appear when the case was in for finalisation and retracted his plea when the case the week before he pleaded again on 28th October.

The defence told the court he has five children and he withdrew the previous plea due to having three charges in the court and there was confused regarding what he was charged with.

Judge Derek Cooney told the court a substantial donation was necessary due to the abuse the accused caused to gardai and how Mr Keogh dragged out the case.

Mr Keogh was ordered to pay a €500 donation to Ability Equine Assisted Therapy by 25th November to avoid a conviction.