A KNIFE in a plastic bag was found stashed inside a courtroom while another person tried to smuggle a replica handgun into the criminal courts.
In another bizarre case, a member of the public tried to bring a “murder weapon” through a security screen saying they planned to hand it to gardaí as evidence.
A log of Courts Service incidents and accidents for 2024 also disclosed how another person tried to bring a “large wrench tool” through a scanner.
When they were told it would have to be left at the entrance gate, the person became “verbally abusive” and gardaí had to be called.
A note of the incident said: “Upon receiving the returned item, the [person] threatened to assault [security] operative with [it].
“A garda sergeant who was leaving the building overheard the threat and removed the [person] from the building.”
In April, “a small knife in a rigid plastic bag” was discovered in the Criminal Courts of Justice with an investigation taking place.
It was later said it could not be determined with any certainty who had brought the weapon into the building.
The log of incidents detailed the discovery last March of an Airsoft pistol inside a backpack from a person trying to get into the courts.
The replica weapon was confiscated, with gardaí called and the owner told the item would not be returned to them.
In another case last summer, the legal representative of a high security prisoner at Portlaoise was attacked by their own client.
The two of them were discussing the case when the lawyer “stumbled out of the holding cell having been physically assaulted.”
In January of last year, two [people] were spotted on CCTV just after midday trying to access a solicitors suite using a stolen legal executive access card.
A note said: “This access card was disabled which is normal practice for unauthorised card use. At 13:15, the same two [people] were attempting to enter the solicitors’ suite area [again].”
In another incident, there was a fire alert after an alarm was activated in a holding cell beneath the Criminal Courts of Justice.
VAPING MISHAP
However, on further investigation it turned out to be a prison officer who was vaping.
Asked about the incident log, a Courts Service spokesman said: “We continuously manage the safety arrangements for all properties, including keeping a register and the reporting of incidents.
“This active management helps us ensure the optimum environment for the health and safety of all persons entering Courts Service buildings.”
