An orthopaedic surgeon has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of assaulting three people, producing a fire extinguisher as a weapon, and causing criminal damage, at a Limerick City hotel, three years ago.Dr Emmett Cullen (50), of Silverbrook, Mill Road, Corbally, Limerick, was staying at the Clayton Hotel, Steamboat Quay, when he went “completely berserk” there, on May 4th, 2023, alleged prosecuting barrister John O’Sullivan BL.Cullen armed himself with two fire extinguishers, trashing parts of the hotel, and assaulted three other guests causing them harm, O’Sullivan alleged, on the opening day of the trial at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court.Members of the Armed Support Unit (ASU) attached to An Garda Síochána were deployed to the hotel and they discharged a taser and pepper spray to subdue and apprehend the accused.O’Sullivan, instructed by State solicitor for Limerick City, Padraig Mawe, and assisted by Det Gda Gareth Walsh, said the accused “went completely out of control” at the hotel on the second night of a two-night stay.CCTV footage was shown in court of a man identified by gardaí as Cullen “swinging” a fire extinguisher at guests and patrons, throwing chairs, smashing televisions, glasses, tables and lights, during the 20-minute “ordeal”.O’Sullivan said Cullen used the fire extinguishers as a “weapon” causing almost €40,000 worth of damage at the hotel.Walsh played a series of CCTV clips which the prosecution alleged showed the accused trashing the hotel.“What’s also evident is the accused lunges at two children after shouting at them. He is also seen chasing these two children and is stopped by their mother,” said O’Sullivan.Walsh identified the accused in the footage swinging a fire extinguisher at two women aged in their 70s, and smashing a table they were sitting at, causing cuts to their fingers.Walsh said the footage also showed the accused discharging two fire extinguishers around the hotel.O’Sullivan read witness statements to the court provided by a family who were staying at the hotel on the night.One of the witnesses told gardaí she heard a man “shouting” as he approached her seven-year old daughter and 14-year old niece, calling them “evil”.The witness said her daughter “wet herself” out of “fear”, and that she had “never seen her so traumatised”.The woman, who was pregnant at the time, said the man “attempted to assault me” and her father intervened and “we got out of the way”.The woman’s sister told gardaí she also saw a man “holding a fire extinguisher” and “shouting” at the children.The woman said the man “lunged” at her pregnant sister “with his hands” and shouted “when am I going to see my kids”.The woman said the man was “ranting” and he struck her husband on his left arm with the fire extinguisher.The family retreated out of the hotel via an emergency exit along with a group of US tourists and they all took refuge in a nearby apartment block.The hotel’s night manager, Kieran Bradshaw, who was on duty at the time, told gardaí that prior to the incident, the accused wanted to upgrade from his room to the hotel’s penthouse suite but he was informed it was not available.“He said he was going to smash me in the face, he had a look of rage in his eyes, he left a trail of destruction in the bar,” Bradshaw told gardaí.Walsh said two armed gardaí eventually subdued the accused in the hotel’s restaurant kitchen after discharging a taser and pepper spray.Walsh told the court that the accused initially “resisted” arrest but he eventually complied, and told gardaí: “Okay, okay, I’m sorry about this.”The accused was initially detained under the Mental Health Act as gardaí believed he may have had a mental breakdown and a psychotic episode.The trial continues on Wednesday before a jury of six women and six men.