Egyptian man deported after viral screwdriver incident at Dublin supermarket

Tom Tuite

A 38-year-old Egyptian man who swung a screwdriver at a supermarket security guard in Dublin has been deported.

Mohamed Kaness, formerly of Gardiner Street, D1, was charged after footage was uploaded to social media.

He was granted strict bail on August 9th at Dublin District Court.

Kaness was charged with unlawful possession of a flathead screwdriver as a weapon and producing an implement capable of causing serious injury at Lidl on Talbot Street in the city centre's north side on August 7th.

Following adjournments, he later pleaded guilty and was remanded on bail pending sentence, with a probation report to be furnished to the court at his next hearing.

The case resumed on Friday, when Judge Michele Finan asked if the accused was present.

However, defence solicitor Luke Staines said Kaness was not in court because he had been deported to Egypt, and he suggested that the case be struck out.

The court sergeant confirmed that the accused had been removed from the State on January 15th. In light of that, Judge Finan made no further order.

At his previous hearing, Garda Paul Mooney objected to bail, citing concerns about witness interference and quoting an excerpt from Kaness's interview: "I’m not going to leave them alone."

During his interview, gardaí asked what he would do then, to which he allegedly replied, “If you don't do it, your job, I want to report him, it's only two bottles, and I was going anyway."

The Store Street-based officer said that the man made no reply when charged with two counts under the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act.

The garda mentioned that the accused lacked an address, having lost his hostel place when a recording of the confrontation surfaced online.

Describing the incident, Garda Mooney had said he and colleagues responded to a report initially stating there was a man with a knife in the supermarket who had been held by security.

The court heard that Kaness had a broad-headed screwdriver and "was swinging this implement at security, that is why he was being detained."

The defence stated that English was not the accused's first language, but he had agreed to reside with a friend in the Dublin 7 area, provided he stayed away from specific locations.

Kaness, who was granted legal aid, was ordered to sign on five days a week at a garda station, provide gardaí with his new address, and remain away from Talbot Street and his former hostel.