Woman pleads not guilty to assault of three gardaí in Laois town

A 31-year-old woman charged with assaulting three gardaí in Mountmellick has pleaded not guilty, with a full court day now set aside for the hearing of her case.

Sia Fayiah (31), with an address at 18 Silverbrook, Mountmellick, is charged with three counts of assault; threatening or abusive behaviour; being intoxicated in a public place; failure to give information to the gardaí on who was driving the vehicle; and no insurance. All of the charges relate to an incident at Briar Lane, Mountmellick, on June 6, 2020.

The case was previously adjourned at Portlaoise District Court to allow a forensic engineer acting for the defence to access a mobile phone containing images of the alleged assaults.

A number of phones containing images of the incident were seized by gardaí from the accused's house on June 7, 2020, with images downloaded onto a USB device and furnished to the woman's defence. However, solicitor for the accused, John Gerard Cullen requested that the phones be studied by an expert.

When the case returned to court last week, Sgt JJ Kirby confirmed that the phone had been examined by the forensic expert for the defence.

Solicitor, Josephine Fitzpatrick said she had been asked to handle the case that day in the absence of John Gerard Cullen, who is defence for the accused.

Ms Fitzpatrick said that the accused may have had insurance and was pleading not guilty to the charges.

Sgt Kirby said that the case would take some time to be heard, as the State has six garda witnesses.

The matter was adjourned to May 25, 2021, for hearing.

Judge Catherine Staines told Ms Fitzpatrick to inform Mr Cullen that the case was going ahead that day.

“I'm setting aside a full day for this case, so on no account can he turn up on the day and look for an adjournment,” said Judge Staines.