A man who damaged a door of a Castlebar cafe, after a fight broke out between him and the owner over text messages sent to the man’s girlfriend, was before Castlebar District Court this week.
Garda Hugh O’ Donnell outlined that on the afternoon of November 5 2011 he was called to an incident at Water Lilly Cafe, Humbert Mall, Castlebar. The cafe is run by Mohammad Achmed.
Stephen Masterson, St Joseph’s Terrace, Station Road, Castlebar, had entered the premises where a skirmish broke out between the two men over “suggestive” texts which had been sent from Mr Achmed to the girlfriend of Masterson. His girlfriend had applied for a job at the cafe and Mr Achmed then contacted her.
Mr Achmed told the gardaí that Masterson took money from the till, however Masterson said that he was given €70 “hush money” from Mr Achmed.
As Masterson left the cafe he kicked the door which broke the glass panel. The damage caused was €368. This money was handed in to court. Garda O’Donnell said that CCTV viewed of the incident showed Mr Achmed then run after the defendant with a wooden stick.
Solicitor for Masterson, Tom Walsh, said that it was the “most bizarre incident” following “seedy” text messages sent and he said that his client went to confront Mr Achmed to defend his girlfriend’s honour.
Masterson (37 ) was given the benefit of the Probation Act.
