A fan of the music band Coldplay, Kieran Graham, a 24-year-old Liverpool father of one, narrowly missed serving jail time for causing disturbance and attacking medics at a concert in Croke Park attended by over 80,000 people. Graham, despite heavily intoxicated, came to Dublin specifically to attend the opening night of the band’s four-day concert.
On being arraigned at the Dublin District Court, Judge Mark O’Connell ruled for Graham to pay a fine of €500 in response to his guilty plea to charges of disrupting public order. However, Graham, who was refusing to reveal his identity, had to be fettered for his personal safety and subsequently arrested, when he also assaulted Garda Adam Hannan and medical staff trying to aid him, according to court records.
Although the medical team deemed hospitalization unnecessary, Graham was taken to Store Street Garda station, charged and brought before the court the next day. Michael French, his defence attorney, relayed to the court his client’s remorse for his actions and asked for clemency as Graham hadn’t set out to cause trouble.
Graham was alleged to consume a large amount of alcohol over the course of the day, and was in a state of imbalance – a condition he clearly overlooked. Despite his obvious distress and violent behaviour, the court was informed Graham was a working professional keen to avoid a criminal record and willing to compensate with a charitable donation.
However, Judge O’Connell pointed out the challenge with such a resolution and stated that Graham’s lack of cooperation and unprovoked inconvenience to the Police was evident from his demeanor. The judge subsequently convicted him and mandated the payment of a €500 fine within thirty days.