Swung hatchet during Portlaoise row 

A hatchet was swung at a man during an incident in Portlaoise last year. 

Seamus Coss, 34, of 17 Clonroosk View, Knockmay, Portlaoise appeared in court accused of violent disorder and production of an article in relation to an incident at Flanagan’s Foodstore, Knockmay, Portlaoise on June 6, 2022. 

Garda Sergeant JJ Kirby said gardai were alerted to an altercation involving three men outside a shop  in Knockmay on the date in question. He said CCTV of the defendant and two co-accused was viewed.

He said the defendant was seen running down the road “brandishing a weapon” which he described as a hatchet. 

“He swung it in the direction of one of the co accused,” said Sgt Kirby, who confirmed nobody was struck with the weapon.   

Sgt Kirby said the man had 69 previous convictions. 

Solicitor Barry Fitzgerald said his client was pleading guilty. He said the man was currently serving a prison sentence and was due for release in January 2024. 

“The defendant and his siblings would be well known to the court,” said Mr Fitzgerald. 

He explained that his client had been living on the streets from the age of 13 and addicted to heroin at 16. 

“There has been a pattern of offending and addiction ever since,” he said. 

In relation to the offence, Mr Fitzgerald said his client maintains he was trying to run someone who had come looking for him out of the estate. He said the man was getting help with his addiction and is doing well in prison and “presents impeccably” today.

Mr Fitzgerald said that when his client had previously returned to the community he had been homeless. However, he said the man is now in a relationship and has somewhere to stay when he gets out of jail. 

Judge Andrew Cody described the production of a hatchet as extremely dangerous. 

“The production of a hatchet in a moment of madness thankfully didn’t result in what it could result in,” he noted. 

Judge Cody sentenced the man to three months in prison with three months suspended for two years post release. He ordered that the three month sentence begin at the end of the prison sentence he was currently serving.