A garda inspector has told a court he was convinced he was about to lose his life during an incident in Co Longford eight years ago, in which a Belgian Shepherd dog was unleashed on him.
Tom Quinn, who held the rank of Sergeant in Granard at the time, said an edited version of footage from the incident on 3 December 2018 that spread widely on social media caused both him and his family “huge distress,” reports RTE.
He said the video made national headlines and was accompanied by “horrible and vicious commentary.”
Mr Quinn said he received threats as a result and was compelled to remove his children from the family home for several weeks following the incident, reports RTE.
At Longford Circuit Court, Edward ‘Blondie’ Stokes, aged 35, formerly of Ferriskill, Granard, Co Longford, was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
His wife Sharon Stokes, aged 38, also formerly of Ferriskill, Granard, was handed 150 hours of community service, reports RTE.
Edward ‘Blondie’ Stokes had entered guilty pleas to charges of endangerment, production of a slash hook, criminal damage and providing false information to GSOC, now known as Fiosrú, in connection with events on 3 December 2018.
Sharon Stokes had pleaded guilty to production of a slash hook and supplying false information to GSOC on the same date, reports RTE.
Passing sentence, Judge Kenneth Connolly said the circulated video had promoted a “self-serving and distorted” account of events that made no reference to the dog.
He acknowledged the impact on now Inspector Quinn and the fact that his career and reputation had suffered as a result, reports RTE.
In mitigation, Judge Connolly took into account the guilty pleas and, in the case of Edward ‘Blondie’ Stokes, the efforts he had since made to rehabilitate and improve himself through education.
The judge noted the 35-year-old, who is currently serving a separate sentence for affray and violent disorder, had presented an impressive range of certificates to the court, reports RTE.
Mr Stokes had also written directly to the judge offering “a gold-plated commitment” to leave criminality behind for the rest of his life.
Judge Connolly sentenced him to three years and three months in prison, suspending the final two years for five years, with the sentence to run consecutively to his current term, reports RTE.
“It is completely separate with completely separate victims,” the judge said.
Judge Connolly sentenced Sharon Stokes to 15 months, reducing it to 12 months and converting it to 150 hours of community service, noting her role had been lesser and that she was a mother of seven, reports RTE.
‘Flew into a rage’
Sergeant James Rowan of Longford Garda Station told Longford Circuit Court that then Sergeant Tom Quinn had accompanied a customer to the yard at Ferriskill that evening, after the man had left his Blue Transit van with Edward Stokes for engine reconditioning following a breakdown in November.
The work had been agreed at a fee of €1,500, but the customer grew concerned after becoming aware of a major garda operation in the area that had turned up stolen vehicles, reports RTE.
He contacted Mr Quinn at Granard Garda Station, who agreed to go with him to the yard to retrieve the vehicle.
When Stokes saw the garda sergeant, however, he “flew into a rage” and directed his wife to start recording what was happening, the court heard, reports RTE.
Longford Circuit Court heard that Stokes subsequently directed his wife to fetch a slash hook.
In his victim impact statement, Mr Quinn said Stokes began advancing towards him waving the slash hook, reports RTE.
“I feared greatly for my life,” he said.
He said he was also fearful for the safety of the customer, who at that point was behind Stokes trying to retrieve and turn the van around.
Mr Quinn, who is authorised to carry a firearm, said he has drawn his weapon only on very rare occasions throughout his career, but on this occasion had no choice, reports RTE.
“I absolutely did not want to use it,” he said.
He said the customer made a courageous intervention, leaving the van, shoulder-charging Stokes to knock him off balance and grabbing the slash hook, allowing the then garda sergeant to take it and throw it over a hedge, reports RTE.
Mr Quinn then heard Stokes shout “get the dog, get the dog.”
As both men tried to leave, Stokes gave chase, wrenching the driver’s door open, assaulting the customer and pulling out and breaking the ignition key, reports RTE.
“Many years ago in Templemore I took an oath to protect the people of Ireland,” said Mr Quinn.
“In this fleeting moment I thought this is the one time in my career where there is a strong likelihood that I will die doing this.
“I also thought having been at a birthday party with my children over the weekend, I may never see them again or celebrate another birthday with them.
“The dog had its teeth bared and was snarling,” reports RTE.
The court heard that as Mr Quinn tried to shield the customer and close the van door, Stokes goaded the dog — held on a short leash — to attack him.
Mr Quinn said he attempted to reason with Stokes to call the animal off, but by this point it “had its teeth bared and was snarling” directly in his face, reports RTE.
“I honestly thought both of us were going to die,” he said.
Longford Circuit Court heard Stokes commanded the dog to attack, at which point it leaped at Mr Quinn’s chest and seized his tie, dragging him, reports RTE.
Mr Quinn told the court that shooting the dog was his only remaining option.
“I was terrified, it was dragging me, I took the shot,” he said.
“I didn’t want to discharge my firearm, it was the last thing I wanted to do,” reports RTE.
The dog released its grip immediately and retreated into the ditch.
Sharon Stokes began screaming, Edward Stokes backed away, and the customer fled the scene on foot, leaving Mr Quinn alone on the road awaiting garda backup, reports RTE.
The court heard the bullet passed through the dog, struck the road, and ricocheted upward, grazing Stokes’ ankle.
Mr Quinn said he returned to the station afterwards, and a colleague alerted him to the social media video that had begun circulating, reports RTE.
In the days that followed, the footage “did the rounds everywhere on social media” alongside what Mr Quinn described as “horrible and vicious commentary.”
“Many newspapers took images from the clip which showed me discharge the round, some on their front pages,” he said.
“My face was pixelated but it was pretty clear it was me. This caused me huge distress.
“The video is still all over multiple social media forums. My children recently told me that they have all seen it,” reports RTE.
Criticism of former garda commissioner Drew Harris
In his victim impact statement, Inspector Quinn said he returned to duty the following day and received a visit on 5 December from the Assistant Commissioner for the Western Region, who gave assurances that she believed he had acted properly and that the organisation would stand by him.
“My experience has been quite the opposite,” he said, reports RTE.
Mr Quinn criticised former Garda Commissioner Drew Harris for failing to make contact with him and for declining to sign his promotion warrant in December 2018.
“It seemed he formed the opinion that I was guilty of something,” he said, reports RTE.
Inspector Quinn said that even after GSOC cleared him of any wrongdoing, calls to Human Resource Management about his promotion went unanswered.
When he was eventually promoted in August 2019, he sought to have the promotion backdated given its impact on his pay, pension and future opportunities, ultimately bringing the matter to the High Court, which found that refusing to backdate it would “wrongly penalise” him over what amounted to false accusations, reports RTE.
Mr Quinn noted his belief that current Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly would not have permitted the matter to be handled so poorly.
He said he had been on a panel for promotion to Superintendent, but the panel was cut short before reaching his position, and that he has since applied twice for the rank without success, reports RTE.
Mr Quinn thanked his family and garda colleagues for their support, and said that while it had taken eight years, he hoped that finally telling his side of the story would bring some closure.
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