This article is from page 3 of the 2005-11-22 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
KILRUSH brothers, Anthony Kelly (26) and Joseph (23), have pleaded guilty to assaulting two men in the town on April 11, 2004, at Ennis Cir- cuit Court.
The assault by the brothers, who were armed with a hurley and a bow- saw, resulted in two men being hos- pitalised. One of the victims, Martin Walsh, told the court he was hospi- talised for seven days, had 11 staples
put into his head and an operation on his arm. He has been on disability al- lowance since the incident. The other victim, Tony McNamara, had 14 sta- ples in his head and spent two days in hospital. Detective Sergeant Dav- id Sheedy told the court that Joseph Kelly hit Mr Walsh on the head with the hurley. Mr Walsh fell to the eround and was hit several times in the body by the two assailants. Tony McNamara witnessed the incident, and was also knocked unconscious.
Det Sgt Sheedy said the two victims were completely innocent.
Asked about the background to the assault, the garda said, “It’s hard to say, but it’s going back to an incident of a car belonging to a brother of one of the injured parties being burnt out. The problems relate to two groups of people and there are ongoing tit-for- tat problems. There are still prob- lems with the situation in Kilrush. It is important that the two Kellys don’t live there. If they did, they would get
dragged back into this feud,’ said the garda.
As part of their bail conditions, the Kellys have resided in Cork since April. The court heard that Antho- ny Kelly had 32 previous convic- tions, and Joseph 16. In both cases, a number were for road traffic of- fences. Counsel for Anthony Kelly, Michael Collins BL, asked Judge Carroll Moran to take into account his chent’s guilty plea.
“Mr Kelly is crime-free and hassle-
free. His is not a record of violence. Mr Kelly has no future whatsoever in Kilrush,” said the barrister.
Judge Moran said that a compensa- tion offer of €2,500 to each victim was inadequate. He ordered that the monies be paid over and the Kellys pay additional compensation at the February sittings of Ennis Circuit Court. He remanded them on con- tinuing bail with the same conditions attached that they remain out of Kil- Mets ep