AN ORTHOPAEDIC surgeon pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of assaulting three people, producing a fire extinguisher as a weapon, and causing criminal damage at a Limerick City hotel.
Dr Emmett Cullen (50), of Silverbrook, Mill Road, Corbally, was a guest at the hotel when he went “completely berserk” on May 4, 2023, alleged prosecuting barrister John O’Sullivan.
Dr Cullen armed himself with two fire extinguishers, thrashing parts of the hotel, and assaulted other guests, Mr O’Sullivan alleged on the opening day of the trial being held at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.
Members of the Garda Armed Support Unit (ASU) were deployed and discharged a taser and pepper spray to subdue the accused, it was heard.
Mr O’Sullivan, instructed by State Solicitor for Limerick City, Padraig Mawe, assisted by Detective Garda Gareth Walsh, said the accused “went completely out of control” at the hotel on the second night of a two-night stay.
CCTV footage was shown in court of a man identified by gardai as Dr Cullen “swinging” a fire extinguisher at guests and patrons, throwing chairs, smashing televisions, glasses, tables and lights, during the 20-minute “ordeal”.
Mr O’Sullivan said Dr Cullen used the fire extinguishers as a “weapon” causing almost €40,000 worth of damage at the city hotel.
CCTV clips were shown in court which the prosecution alleged showed the accused thrashing the hotel.
“What’s also evident is the accused lunges at two children after shouting at them,” said Mr O’Sullivan.
Detective Garda Walsh identified the accused in the footage swinging a fire extinguisher at two women aged in their 70s, and smashing a table they were sitting at.
Garda Walsh said the footage also showed the accused discharging two fire extinguishers around the hotel.
Mr O’Sullivan read to the court witness statements provided by a family who were staying at the hotel.
One of the witnesses told Gardaí she heard a man “shouting” as he approached her seven-year-old daughter and 14-year-old niece, calling them “evil”.
The woman, who was pregnant at the time, said the man “attempted to assault me”.
The woman’s sister told Gardaí the man “lunged” at her pregnant sister and shouted “when am I going to see my kids”.
Another aunt of the children said she saw a man shouting at the children calling them “evil” and “something about the devil”.
“We stood in front of our nieces to shield them from him, he was tall and very intimidating, he was towering over us all,” the woman said.
The court heard the family retreated from the hotel via an emergency exit along with a group of US tourists and took refuge in a nearby apartment block.
The hotel’s night manager, Kieran Bradshaw, who was on duty at the time, told Gardaí that, prior to the incident, the accused wanted to upgrade his room to the hotel’s penthouse suite but was informed it was not available.
Mr Bradshaw said, later that night, he heard a man he now knows to be the accused shouting “where are my kids”, brandishing a fire extinguisher, verbally abusing two children, and thrashing the hotel.
“He said he was going to smash me in the face, he had a look of rage in his eyes, he left a trail of destruction in the bar,” Mr Bradshaw told Gardaí.
Detective Garda Walsh said two armed Gardaí eventually subdued the accused in the hotel’s restaurant kitchen after discharging a taser and pepper spray. He said the accused told the Gardaí “I won’t get back” and asked “where are my kids?”
Det Garda Walsh said the accused initially resisted arrest but he eventually complied, and told Gardaí: “I’m sorry about this.”
The Garda agreed with Mr O’Sullivan that he initially detained the accused “under Section 12 of the Mental Heath Act as you believed the accused may have had a mental breakdown and a psychotic episode”.
The trial continues before a jury of six women and six men.