Affray charges brought after Offaly christening struck out when men donated €1,000 to poor box
CHARGES of affray against two men arising from an incident near Killeigh were struck out after donations totalling €1,000 were made to the Tullamore District Court poor box.
Christopher Bracken (27), Wood of O, Tullamore and Michael Feery (26), Killeenmore, Killeigh, both pleaded guilty to affray at Killeenmore, Killeigh after what a garda said was a “serious public order incident” on the night of February 5 last.
Detective Garda Alan Burke said the incident which led to the prosecution of Mr Bracken and Mr Feery followed immediately from a separate incident in which a sister of Michael Feery was an injured party.
Some people were injured in the incident and another male, who is also before the courts, needed medical treatment.
Detective Garda Burke said Mr Bracken and Mr Feery arrived at the scene on foot and engaged in a physical and verbal dispute with two other males.
The sister of Mr Feery, who has not been accused of any offence, was in a highly distressed state after going to collect family members from a christening and rang her brother for assistance, resulting in the arrival of the two accused men.
When Judge Andrew Cody asked for more detail of what had happened, Mr Martin said it would be alleged that the other individual, who is still before the courts, had come out into the middle of the road with a wheel and stopped Mr Feery's sister while she was driving her car. He then got into the car and took the keys and she then rang her brother in a panic.
Detective Garda Burke told Judge Cody that it should be noted that the incident took place two weeks after a very serious incident in Tullamore where a woman had lost her life.
The incident in Killeenmore had been recorded on CCTV and from the moment the vehicle had been stopped, it lasted about 15 minutes.
The detective garda said the sister of Mr Feery had been held at the location against her will when her car keys were taken from her.
Both Mr Bracken and Mr Feery both made full admissions after attending with him by appointment and they had no previous convictions.
Patrick Martin, solicitor for the two accused, said they both accepted they should not have got involved to the extent they did get involved but it was a very tense situation.
Mr Martin said both were working full-time and were involved in sport. They had brought €500 each to court.
Judge Cody said he was anxious to ensure there would be no “afters” from the incident and Detective Garda Burke said there had been no ongoing issues involving Mr Bracken and Mr Feery.
The judge said his inclination would be to adjourn the matter for six or nine months until after the court case involving the other individual.
Detective Garda Burke said he would be “very confident” there would be no further incidents involving the two accused.
Judge Cody told the garda he was “nearly” telling him to strike out the charges. “Am I right?” asked the judge.
To laughter in the courtroom, Detective Garda Burke replied: “As I hear quite regularly, no comment.”
The judge then struck out the charges and remarked that he trusted there would not be any afters from the two men.