Airsoft grenade teen gets suspended term

A TEENAGER who threw an airsoft grenade in an underground car park for “fun”, leading to a Garda station being evacuated, has been given a suspended nine-month jail term.

- BY SONYA McLEAN

Patrick O'Brien, 18, caused “a huge amount of inconvenience to gardai” when he threw two airsoft air grenades into the underground car park of the IBIS hotel in Clondalkin, Dublin, last February, Judge Martin Nolan said yesterday.

“He decided to have a bit of fun for himself,” the judge said. He noted O'Brien's young age at the time and said he was prepared to accept it was an “act of stupidity”.

He handed down a nine-month sentence, suspending it on a number of conditions.