A Garda Inspector who escorted Joan Burton through a crowd of water charge protesters in 2014 says it was like “moving through a rugby maul”.
He was giving evidence at the trial of a teenage boy whoÂ’s accused of falsely imprisoning the former Tánaiste and her adviser.
Inspector Derek Maguire escorted the former Tánaiste from a graduation ceremony in Jobstown in Dublin to a nearby church.
A few protesters began following them and as the crowd grew outside the church, he said he called for backup and told her adviser Karen OÂ’Connell it would be best to leave.
They got into an unmarked car but were unable to move after it became surrounded.
He said the accused, a 17-year-old boy, had a megaphone and was recording what was happening on his phone.
He said it took 10 minutes to move them 30 metres through what he described as a “rugby maul” to get them into a marked Garda jeep.
The court heard they were later moved to separate cars and driven away.
Earlier, Judge John King refused to abort the trial after an issue with some evidence arose.
He decided it would be best to keep going and adjourn at a later stage if necessary.
