Kilkenny gardaí assaulted by woman who ‘lost the run of herself’

A woman has been ordered to pay fines totalling €300 following her conviction for assaulting two gardaí in Kilkenny City centre.

Marie Barcoe, 12 The Way, Cluain Glasan, Kilkenny, was also fined on conviction of a public order offence.

On the evening of St Patrick’s Day 2023, Ms Barcoe approached two gardaí on The Parade. It was 9.30pm.

Inspector Barry Smith told the court that Ms Barcoe was ‘intoxicated’ and was asked to leave the area by the gardaí, at which point her behaviour ‘worsened’.

Inspector Smith said the defendant pushed one of the gardaí and kicked the other.

A separate incident occurred on November 23, 2024, when Ms Barcoe went into Kilkenny Garda Station with complaints about a car. She started abusing a garda there, telling him: “go f*ck yourself, go f*ck your mother, go f*ck your father.”
There were members of the public in the area at the time.

Solicitor Chris Hogan said that on the first occasion Ms Barcoe had approached the gardaí to talk to them about An Garda Síochána, the HSE and how bad garda training is for dealing with people with mental health issues.

The gardaí believed she was being a nuisance and asked her to leave the area, the solicitor said. Ms Barcoe then “lost the run of herself” because one of the gardaí referred to her as ‘homeless’.

Mr Hogan said his client has mental health issues. She is the survivor of abuse for which her father is in prison and she is estranged from her husband.
The solicitor handed in to court a ‘positive letter’ from the Recovery College in relation to his client.
He explained Ms Barcoe does not drink but the effect of her prescription medication can be taken by people as intoxication.

Guilty Plea
Mr Hogan asked the court to give his client credit for her early guilty plea. Ms Barcoe accepted she had assaulted the gardaí and had asked her solicitor to apologise on her behalf in court.

Judge Geraldine Carthy convicted Ms Barcoe of using threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour at Kilkenny Garda Station and imposed a fine of €200.
Ms Barcoe was also convicted of assaulting the two gardaí and fined €150 in each case.