Two men have been charged for following and assaulting an off-duty garda after one of the pair recognised him and identified the man as a Garda.
Taylor Ryan, aged 22, from Wicklow and Daryl Waldron,aged 32, from Dublin were charged with assault causing harm on the 21st of June in Store Street Garda Station.
The off-duty officer sustained facial injuries and a concussion in the attack.
The pair were brought before the Dublin District Court on Saturday in front of Judge Gráinne Malone.
Following their arrest and charge, Detective Garda William McCarthy and Detective Garda Niamh McCarthy told the court that both men declined to respond when the charges were put to them.
The court heard that gardaí contacted 13 solicitors in an effort to secure legal representation for the accused after they were taken to Pearse Street Garda Station for questioning. However, neither man had a solicitor during Garda interviews or at their court appearance because of the ongoing industrial action by criminal defence solicitors.
The dispute centres on proposed changes to the legal aid payment system, which would introduce flat fees for District Court cases.
Judge Malone acknowledged the exceptional circumstances, noting that the investigating gardaí were not objecting to bail due to the defendants being unrepresented. Instead, they requested a number of bail conditions, all of which were granted.
The judge also ruled that the case should proceed before the Circuit Court rather than remain in the District Court, citing the higher court's wider sentencing powers.
Although the defendants were not required to address the court, they agreed to the bail conditions. They were ordered not to contact each other or any witnesses, to provide their address to gardaí within 48 hours, stay out of Dublin 1 and Dublin 2, and observe a nightly curfew between 11pm and 6am.
Neither man has entered a plea. They are due back before the court on 29 July, while the prosecution has yet to serve the book of evidence.
