Prison officers hurt as prisoner attacks barrister with blade in Dublin court

Three prison officers were injured in a Dublin courthouse after they went to the rescue of a barrister who was attacked by a prisoner as she briefed him before they went into court.

The attack on barrister Gillian Finane in a consultation room in the Dublin District Family Courts building in Temple Bar reportedly involved a man holding a sharp object up to her neck.

Three prison officers had accompanied the prisoner from jail to the courthouse and they had stood outside the consultation room, while the barrister and her client spoke before a family law case.

However, they rushed in when they saw that she had been attacked, but all three were injured as they struggled to get the improvised blade from the prisoner.

The three were treated later. The lawyer was not injured. Pearse Street gardaí are investigating a “minor assault” at the Dolphin House court, a Garda spokesman said.

Improvised weapon

A spokesman for the IPS said he couldn’t speculate on where the prisoner obtained the improvised weapon used in the attack, but confirmed this issue would be looked into as part of the investigation into the matter.

The prisoner was restrained, and the Irish Prison Service confirmed the matter is being investigated.

The prisoner had come from Mountjoy prison and had seemingly brought the sharp object to the courts.

A colleague of the barrister in question said he understood that the prisoner held the sharp object up to the female barrister’s face and neck, before attempting an attack on the prison officers.