Charges relating to an ongoing family feud at Dalton Park are before Mullingar District Court, where Judge Seamus Hughes was unimpressed by “tit for tat” criminality.
He heard how a row between the McKevitt family and Sean Dinnegan’s family arose because Dinnegan’s son threw a snowball at one of the McKevitts in late 2010, leading to a row.
This prompted the judge to remind everyone present at Mullingar District Court that the Limerick gangland rows emerged because of a comment to a schoolgirl, “which may be even more insignificant than a dispute over a snowball”.
Garda Vincent Reynolds explained how he was called to the homes of the McKevitt families at 1am on December 3, 2010 where €950 damage had been done to the windows of the two houses.
An hour earlier, a car belonging to Tina Giff was damaged, and Ms Giff, her husband Sean Dinnegan and their daughter Natasha, also of 263 Dalton Park, believed the McKevitt’s had caused the damage.
When the Dinnegans went to the McKevitt homes, Sean Dinnegan slipped on snow and was assaulted on the ground, resulting in Stephen and John McKevitt receiving suspended sentences.
The court heard Natasaha Dinnegan and Tina Giff went to the McKevitt house with baseball bats and broke the windows, and that Sean Dinnegan followed them, also with a baseball bat, but he said it was to bring them back.
Mrs Margaret McKevitt and Darren McKevitt said a lot has happened since the windows were broken and that they haven’t retaliated.
They referred to a serious incident which they said occurred in the days after the windows were broken, which left a member of their family in a serious medical condition.
Solicitor Louis Kiernan said the Dinnegan family immediately admitted what they had done, and said no one was prosecuted for damaging Ms Giff’s car.
He said Sean Dinnegan is putting money aside for the windows and had €200 in court.
But Judge Hughes said Dinnegan can borrow the money from his family “and entertain them for years paying it back”.
He gave them until May 24 to pay back the money, and the details relating to McKevitt offences are also to be in court that day.
He expressed strong concern that Natasha Dinnegan was in Australia and not in court.
