Dolores O’Riordan has pleaded guilty at Ennis District Court to assaulting Garda Shane Dawson at Shannon Airport in November 10, 2014.
Following an alleged air rage incident, Garda Dawson and an Airport Police Officer were on hand to meet the Cranberries singer as she disembarked a flight from New York.
The court was told by Inspector Tom Kennedy how she head-butted and spat in the face of Garda Dawson, and also kicked out and spat at the APO.
O’Riordan was quoted as saying: “You can’t arrest me. I’m an icon. I’m the Queen of Limerick. You don’t know who you’re dealing with. I pay my taxes so I pay your wages, and I’m going to sue” as she was confronted and then arrested.
Continued Inspector Kennedy: “She then alleged that Garda Dawson had ‘grabbed her tit’ and claimed that he sexually assaulted her by groping her.”
Describing O’Riordan as “somewhat out of control”, the 44-year-old’s solicitor, Bill O’Donnell, accepted that no sexual assault had occurred.
“She was unwell arising from the devastating effect of her separation from her husband and not seeing her children,” he added.
The court was presented with a dossier of medical reports including one that described her as “a person suffering a severe psychiatric illness.”
The case has been adjourned until January 28. If convicted, O’Riordan faces a fine of up to €1,850 and/or a possible eight months in prison.