Gardaí made "unwise and inappropriate" decisions at a water charges protest during which former tánaiste Joan Burton was allegedly falsely imprisoned, a trial has heard.
Solidarity TD Paul Murphy (34) and five other men have pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to falsely imprisoning Ms Burton and her adviser Karen O'Connell by restricting their personal liberty without their consent at the protest on Fortunestown Road, Jobstown, Tallaght, Co Dublin, on November 15th, 2014.
Raymond Comyn SC, defending one of the accused, Solidarity councillor Michael Murphy, told the trial on Wednesday that the "root cause" of the escalation in the protest "had to be laid firmly at the door of the gardaí".
In his closing arguments to the jury, Mr Comyn questioned why gardaí had failed to try and diffuse matters.
He said every decision made by gardaí on the day was “unwise and inappropriate” and compared gardaí at the protest to “the Keystone Cops”.
Mr Comyn claimed there was “something rotten at the core of this investigation” because evidence given by gardaí was proved “demonstrably wrong” in court by video footage.
He also said he was very critical of gardaí for not finding "crucial" YouTube footage uncovered by Mr Murphy.
The footage in question shows Mr Murphy speaking through a loud hailer and proposing to move the protest on.
He is also seen warning against “argy-bargy” and saying: “This isn’t what we came here for.”
A woman in the video, who told the crowd through the megaphone that she was from Killinarden in Tallaght, advocated keeping Ms Burton and her adviser at the site.
“The final irony . . . is that a man who promoted a solution to the problem is now before the court, while the lady who was promoting the problem hasn’t even been identified or tracked down by gardaí,” said Mr Comyn.
‘Series of misjudgments’
Senior counsel for another of the accused, Solidarity councillor Kieran Mahon, also criticised what he described as "a series of misjudgments" and "tactical errors" by gardaí on the day.
Kerida Naidoo SC said his client "didn't say boo to a goose all day" at the protest and that, although he was a political representative and a political activist, he could not be described as a criminal.
The six men on trial are Paul Murphy, of Kingswood Heights, Tallaght; Kieran Mahon, of Bolbrook Grove, Tallaght; Michael Murphy, of Whitechurch Way, Ballyboden; Frank Donaghy (71), of Alpine Rise, Tallaght; Michael Banks (46), of Brookview Green, Tallaght, and Scott Masterson (34), of Carrigmore Drive, Tallaght.
The trial continues before Judge Melanie Greally.