This week, a Dublin man has been sentenced to jail for 14 months after calling a man homophobic slurs and kicking his dog.

The attack occurred on May 28, 2022, while the victim was walking his dog on a Dublin street. Gardaí responded to a report that someone had called a man a “homophobic slur” before kicking his dog.

A garda sergeant confirmed that the accused and victim did not know each other and described the action as “threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour”, which caused a breach of the peace.

Following the attack, the Gardaí opened an investigation, and Gary Kelly from Castleknock was charged with kicking a dog, causing unnecessary animal suffering, and endangering health or welfare, charges found under Section 12 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act.

Dublin District Court heard the incident and determined that Kelly will spend time in jail for the attack on the dog.

Earlier this year, Gary Kelly (46) was also accused of assaulting his mother in a separate incident when he threw a bottle of water over her.

The defence barrister claimed that since Kelly was ­already in custody, giving him any more prison time would be ­“excessive,” but the court disagreed.

Kelly insisted he pleaded not guilty during an earlier court date, but Judge Hughes said a guilty plea had been noted. Additionally, the dog’s owner gave a victim impact statement, and the accused did not offer an apology.

Judge John Hughes sentenced Kelly to jail for 14 months. The court backdated a four-month sentence for the dog incident, and gave two consecutive five-month prison terms on other charges.

In a similar incident last year, a far-right agitator previously accused of kicking dogs was charged with engaging in threatening behaviour after confronting crèche staff about a ‘rainbow poster’.

Despite a continued increase of hate speech incidents targeting LGBTQ+ people and other minority groups in Ireland, the number of prosecutions remains alarmingly low.

Activists are pressuring the Irish government to reform its hate speech laws and introduce new hate crime legislation, but the Cabinet approved plans to drop contentious hate speech laws from the draft Criminal Justice (Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences) Bill 2022.