Gary Hunt, 35, was charged with assault causing harm to the officer, causing her harm at the Beaumont House car park, resisting her colleague Garda Allanah Murphy, failing to pay a €20 fare and smoking in a taxi at the same location.

The jury panel of eight men and four women, having so far spent two hours and 20 minutes considering their verdict, have ceased their deliberations for the weekend.

The man, who is a father of five, has a number of previous convictions, both in Ireland and outside the jurisdiction