Donegal man (83) threatened digger driver with knife during row over boat

An 83-year-old Donegal man who threatened a JCB driver with a knife in a row over a boat has appeared in court.

John Orsi appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged under Section 11 of the Firearms Act.

It followed an incident at Massmount, Tamney on January 31, 2025.

The court was told that a man was working on land at his sister's house using a JCB.

The accused man, Orsi, arrived in his car and got out.

He flashed or waved the knife in the direction of the JCB driver before walking towards him and threatening him with the knife.

The driver of the JCB, who was known to the accused, managed to use the bucket of the vehicle to keep the accused at bay.

The court was told that the entire incident had been captured on a mobile phone. The accused then left the area.

Gardai later spoke to Orsi, of Ballymagowan, Kerrykeel, whom they said was very forthcoming about the incident.

Solicitor for the accused, Mr Frank Dorrian, said the entire incident "reads much worse than it is."

"He told me he should not have had the knife in his hand in the first place," said Mr Dorrian.

He explained that his client was a boatbuilder by profession and had spent his entire life building boats.

The row stemmed back to the ownership of a boat and that Orsi had gone to the scene to argue about that.

He said his client has no previous convictions of any kind and did not intend to harm anyone.

Judge Brendan O'Reilly directed Gardai to find out if the injured party wished to make a victim impact statement in the matter but was told he did not.

Judge O'Reilly said that considering Orsi's age and that he has no previous convictions, he was applying the Probation Act.