A MAN HAS been jailed for five-and-a-half years for his role in assaulting a sergeant during the Dublin riots.

The court heard that the assault on Sergeant Brendan Eddery was live-streamed and his wife and teenage daughter later received videos of the attack.

Sergeant Eddery said in his victim impact statement that when he saw a number of men running towards him that night he decided “on principle not to yield to bullies, a mob”.

He said the group’s “only goal was random violence and intimidation” before he described his patrol car being set alight.

During interview, Thomas Fox (22) said he thought migrants were “smell bags”.

“I would do murder if they even touched a kid. You hear about them grabbing kids and all. I thought more kids were going to get stabbed and snatched,” Fox said.

When asked why he had got involved in the riots he said because of what happened to the child earlier that day – referring to the stabbing of the child earlier that day on Parnell Square.

Fox initially denied that it was him in the footage the gardaí showed him and claimed “I just stood around in town”. He later accepted that it was him.

Fox, who was living in hostel accommodation, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to committing a riot on Burgh Quay, Dublin 2 on 23 November, 2023.

He also pleaded guilty to violent disorder, burglary of Foot Locker on O’Connell Street, interfering with the mechanism of a bus on O’Connell Bridge, assaulting Sergeant Eddery causing him harm also on Burgh Quay and possession of cocaine for sale or supply in the hostel he was living in at the time on Lord Edward Street in Dublin City Centre.

The court heard that the plea to the assault on Sergeant Eddery is accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions on the basis of joint enterprise.

Detective Inspector Ken Hoare told Joe Mulrean BL, prosecuting, that Fox was independently identified by two gardaí after viewing CCTV footage of the riots. He said Fox was involved in the riots for about four hours.

Fox was arrested on 22 July, 2024 in the hostel he was living at the time. Cannabis worth €210 and crack cocaine worth €340, along with drug paraphernalia was found there.

Clothing was also found which matched that which Fox was seen wearing on CCTV footage.

Judge Martin Nolan complimented Sergeant Eddery on the way he behaved on the night in question and the way he gave his evidence during the sentence hearing today. He acknowledged how the attack had also impacted Sergeant Eddery’s family.

The judge said Fox had been involved in the riot which had caused a huge amount of damage.

“He was involved in a serious way in all of these crimes – he had his own reasons for doing it,” Judge Nolan continued.

He accepted that Fox had pleaded guilty and further accepted that the remorse he had demonstrated, particularly in the apology he had offered through his counsel to Sergeant Eddery, was sincere.

Judge Nolan said Fox deserved a custodial sentence before he set a headline sentence of eight years. He then imposed a global sentence of five and half years.

“Best of luck sergeant,” Judge Nolan said after imposing sentence on Fox.

Sergeant Eddery read his victim impact statement. He said he had been left with soft tissue injuries and cuts to his hand after he was struck with a number of unidentified weapons and missiles but also bottles and a scooter.

He also had pain to the back of his head after he was struck.

He said when he saw a number of men running towards him that night he decided “on principle not to yield to bullies, a mob”.

Sergeant Eddery said the group’s “only goal was random violence and intimidation” before he described his patrol car being set alight.

He said he considered that he was going to be seriously injured or killed and estimated he had been fighting about 30 people – “with hundreds of people behind”.

He said he knew that if he lost his footing he would be attacked on the ground.

Sergeant Eddery described a bus driver nearby trying to get his attention to come onto  the bus to escape the mob but he decided not to put that man at risk.

Garda Mark Duffy later came to his assistance and they managed to get into a nearby building where they barricaded themselves in.

Sergeant Eddery said he now suffers from nightmares describing one of them as himself and his children being chased by youths in a flat complex. He said he also suffers sleep deprivation which “leads to mood imbalance”.

The sergeant said he now struggles to deal with conflict and when such conflicts arise, either in work or in his daily life, he gets flashbacks to the riots.

He is now attending a counselling service and while he is still working as a sergeant in a busy station he hopes to move to a quieter role in the future.

Sergeant Eddery described the impact of his wife and daughter viewing the video of him being attacked. He said his wife had an asthma attack after seeing it which led to his daughter thinking he had been killed.

He concluded his statement by thanking Garda Duffy – “I believe I would not have survived without him”. He also thanked the bus driver who offered him the safety of the bus.

Sergeant Eddery also thanked the number of off duty gardaí who came in that night to assist their colleagues and acknowledged the phone calls he got from various people in the government including the Taoiseach, Minister Helen McEntee and former Garda Commissioner Drew Harris. 

Detective Inspector Hoare said that night Dublin City experienced riots of an unprecedented nature and effectively the city had “come under siege”. He said this happened following the stabbing of a five-year-old girl on Parnell Square.

Detective Inspector Hoare said he headed the operation of the investigation into the riots and confirmed that Fox was independently identified by two gardaí.

A compilation of footage of Fox’s involvement in the riots that night was played to the court.

Detective Inspector Hoare said the cost of the riot to Dublin City was estimated at €10 million including damage to buildings and vehicles, the clean up and the loss of business for those commercial premises that were looted and attacked.

Describing the attack on Sergeant Eddery, Hoare said the sergeant stood his ground when the group ran at him. He had a baton and pepper spray with him but he chose not to use them.

“If he was to have drawn them, he was more likely to have them removed from him and used against him,” Det Insp Hoare said.

He said instead Sergeant Eddery put his hands up in an attempt to calm down the crowd.

He agreed with Mulrean that the sergeant’s actions were “in vain” and the group “immediately set upon him”.  Fox was part of this group.

Det Insp Hoare said the group grabbed at Sergeant Eddery, swung at him and threw a number of things at him including an umbrella. Someone in the crowd live streamed the attack and this video was later seen by Sergeant Eddery’s wife and teenage daughter.

Garda Duffy then came onto the scene. The mob snatched Garda Duffy’s bike off him and threw it into the river.

The two officers ultimately managed to retreat to safety and barricade themselves into a building where they were able to call for help.

Detective Inspector Hoare said Foot Locker had €160,000 worth of goods stolen that night and they were unable to re-open the premises until the New Year.

It was estimated that the loss of potential revenue from the Christmas period was €100,000.

Michael Hourigan SC, defending, said his client wished to offer an apology to Sergeant Eddery.

He said Fox was living on the streets at the time and suffered drug addiction from a very young  age. He is remorseful for his actions on the night, counsel said.