Dublin man ‘wielding’ running chainsaw triggered 999 calls, court told

Tom Tuite

A Dublin man was reported to be "wielding" a running chainsaw as a weapon on a Dublin street, triggering multiple 999 calls, a court has heard.

Father of two, Jason Gumble, 31, of Drumalee Avenue, Dublin 7, was arrested following an alleged incident at around 2pm on Friday and allegedly "smeared" his excrement over two garda cell walls.

Bail was denied.

He was charged with the production of a chainsaw as a weapon, unlawful possession of a knife, cocaine possession, possessing drugs for supply, and criminal damage.

Mr Gumble faced strenuous bail objections when he appeared before Judge Paula Murphy at Dublin District Court on Saturday.

Garda Eoin Begley alleged that several 999 calls were received about a man near Old Cabra Road on the city's north side.

It was claimed the reports mentioned "a chainsaw being operated, and in use, but not for its designated purpose".

A member of the public maintained she had seen Gumble wielding the running chainsaw. It was claimed he met with several other males at Old Cabra Road and ran when gardaí arrived.

Garda Begley stated that Gumble ran away while carrying a heavy canvas bag, which he later discarded.

Garda Begley said the accused fled carrying a heavy canvas bag he discarded. However, it was recovered, the "extremely hot" chainsaw was inside, and "it had been still running until that point".

The accused was apprehended after a short foot chase, searched and allegedly had prescription tablets. He was arrested and taken to Mountjoy station, and during the custody process, he was "observed attempting to conceal items on his person".

He was searched in a cell and allegedly concealed drugs.

The bail hearing was told he subsequently recovered them and attempted to consume them and became aggressive toward gardaí as a quantity of cocaine was retrieved from him.

It was claimed the accused defecated in the cell, "smeared same on the cell". Garda Begley said he was offered clean clothing and moved to another cell where he deliberately repeated the same act.

In court, Mr Gumble branded the allegations as lies, said there was no need to object to his bail, and claimed he was being harassed and did nothing wrong.

Mr Gumble, who received a warning from the judge about repeated interruptions, said his head was "wrecked".

Defence counsel Kevin McCrave submitted that this was not the hearing of the underlying case but a bail application, and his client had the presumption of innocence.

He stressed that there was no independent witness in court, and the officer had not seen the accused "wielding" the chainsaw.

Counsel was instructed that another person might have also been there with a chainsaw.

However, the officer thought that was unlikely and told the court that video evidence had been supplied to gardai.

The footage was not played.

Mr Gumble, accompanied to court by his partner, pleaded to be freed on bail to reside at his current address with family. Counsel asserted that his client would obey a curfew.

However, the judge refused Mr Gumble's application.