Two men who abandoned their vans in the middle of morning traffic in Ballina while they wrestled with each other on the ground appeared before Ballina District Court on Tuesday.
Garda Adrian Kearins outlined that on April 30 at 9.30am a row on Lord Edward Street was reported to gardaí. Gda Kearins ran the short distance from Ballina Garda Station to the scene at Font Cross junction, where he observed two vans abandoned in the middle of the road; two men on the ground punching each other; two females roaring and screaming at each other and a gathered crowd, as traffic was blocked from moving. Gda Kearins identified the two men as Charlie Maughan, 9 Parlickstown Ave, Ladswell, Mulhuddart, Dublin 15 and Jimmy Sweeney, 101 Greenhills Estate, Ballina. Maughan was on top of Sweeney on the ground. Gda Kearins asked both men to cease and both defendants went with the gda to Ballina Garda Station where they made cautious statements.
The cautious statement given to Detective Garda Michael McTigue said that Sweeney was driving his six-year-old son to school in his Toyota Hiace when he saw the green Toyota Hiace of Maughan. A week previously there had been an incident at the funeral of Maughan’s child and when Maughan saw Sweeney he pulled up beside him and said “you caused trouble at my child’s funeral”. Maughan then got out of his van, as did Sweeney, before Maughan said “let’s fight”. Maughan hit Sweeney in the jaw and Sweeney hit back before he was knocked to the ground for “about a minute”. Maughan was on top of him and had his “hand around my neck, hitting me with the other hand around the head”. In the stand Sweeney said that Maughan told him: “I’ll kill you”. The partners of both men were screaming at each other while the brawl was taking place.
Maughan was not in court nor represented, Sweeney was represented by Denis Molloy who said that his client pleaded guilty to obstruction but not to the public order or assault.
Judge Mary Devins convicted and fined Sweeney €100 in relation to the obstruction of traffic and applied the probation act in relation to the assault and public order charges.
Maughan, who has one previous breach of the peace, was convicted and fined €300 for the section two assault and €200 for the obstruction of traffic, and the section six public order charge was taken into consideration.
