A FRIGHTENING escapade, on im- pulse, was how a judge described an attack on a van by a man wielding an iron bar, during the Willie Clancy music festival.
As a result, a three-month jail term was imposed on Shaun O’ Hare (29), who pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal damage to a motor van and also to producing an iron bar, at Spanish Point, on July 8, 2007.
Garda Ian Kelly told Ennis Cuir- cuit Court that three young men were sleeping in their van in a car- park when the accused approached. Initially he went away but returned a short time later – around lam – with bottles of drink, which he offered to
them. The garda said he banged and kicked at the van, in an attempt to ee RSME
He said the occupants of the van told him they didn’t want drink and he then broke a bottle outside the van. O’Hare – of Newtown, Clon- lara – who was barefoot at the time, jumped from the van and stood on the glass bottle that had broken.
The incident eventually settled down. However, at Yam the follow- ing morning, O’ Hare returned to the van with an iron bar and damaged the van. Gda Kelly said the damage to the shell of the van was almost €600 and this did not include dam- age to the windscreen. None of this had been paid by the accused, but it was presented to the court.
Asked what gave rise to the in- cident, Gda Kelly said, “It was a drink-related incident. Shaun O’ Hare approached these youths. I got the impression from the witnesses they didn’t want to be in his company and they were only in his company through fear.”
The court was told O’Hare has a number of previous convictions, in- cluding one for assault and some for public order.
Defence counsel Michael Fitzgib- bon, BL, said his client had no previ- ous convictions of a similar nature to what was before the court.
He said his client lost his temper af- ter his partner had pointed out his foot injury to him the following morning. He reacted “very badly and disgrace-
fully. It was in a fit of temper.”
“If there was any misfortune, Mr O’Hare was the author of his own misfortune. He dropped a bottle of beer. He stepped on it. . . He decided to take matters into his own hands,” Jntemncy-HK6b
He said the accused has acquired employment and his employer would give him a glowing reference. He said he has attended a treatment cen- tre and also attended a programme to address his anger issues.
‘He has been making trojan efforts to deal with his alcohol problem and his anger problem,” he said. He said his client recently lost his brother, in tragic circumstances.
Judge Raymond Fullam said when O’Hare banged and kicked the van,
the occupants were in fear and said it was a “frightening escapade”.
“Tt was an inexcusable and outra- geous offence. The iron bar that he wielded was, clearly with the amount of alcohol that he had, a dangerous weapon,’ said the judge.
However, he noted that a guilty plea had been entered and that the offence was committed “on impulse”.
“While these men were in fear, they didn’t suffer any personal injury, which was a blessing,” he said.
The judge said he gave a consid- erable discount for the accused’s circumstances and imposed a three- month jail term. He granted an ap- plication by the defence to postpone the commencement of that term for a fortnight.