Limerick man who jumped out of window of house was kicked on ground during melee

A GARDA who responded to a disturbance in Newport , county Tipperary, has been commended for his bravery by a solicitor for one of the defendants and Judge Elizabeth MacGrath at Nenagh District Court.

The court heard that Garda John Collins responded to a disturbance at Marian Estate, Newport, on May 7, 2021.

On arrival, he observed a group of three males and two females walking towards a house in the estate.

 Stephen Hennessy, 33, jumped out of the window of this house and ran towards the group.

He began fighting with two of the males, Christopher, 30, and William O’Donnell, 23.

Garda Collins radioed for assistance and tried to break up the fight.

The incident was recorded on a mobile phone by a member of the O’Donnell family.

The recording was played in court and showed a melee involving several males and females, and an exchange of threats and insults.

Garda Collins sought to pull the two parties apart.

Mr Hennessy eventually went back into his home.

The garda directed the O'Donnell family members to leave the area and they complied.

Three garda patrol cars and a garda van then arrived at the estate.

William O’Donoghue, 33, of Donnellans Buildings, Rosbrien, Limerick, also arrived and began roaring and shouting.

He, along with Mr Hennessy, also of Donnellans Buildings, Rosbrien, Limerick; Christopher O’Donnell, Clarina Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, Limerick; Lorraine O'Donnell, 45, Marian Estate, Newport, and William O’Donnell, 33, Milborough Cottage, Rosbrien, Limerick, was charged with offences under the Public Order Act.

The court heard that there had been “tension” between the families involved for some time but there had been no interaction between them since this incident.

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Ms McKeever pointed out that Mr Hennessy was knocked to the ground and kicked on the ground during the melee.

Mr O’Donoghue did not live in Marian Estate but heard about what happened and responded out of concern for his mother, who lived in there, she said.

Johnny Spencer, solicitor for Ms O’Donnell, said there had been was an altercation outside his client’s house, during which she was pushed to the ground.

She had sought medical attention. Ms O’Donnell was seeking to move away from the area.

Solicitor David Peters represented Christopher O'Donnell, who was not one of the instigators of the affray and had left the area when directed to.

He had 52 previous convictions, 28 of which came under the Public Order Act; the remainder included offensive weapons, assault, criminal damage and drugs offences.

Mr Peters said a lot of these offences occurred when Mr O'Donnell was a juvenile or young man.

Mr O'Donoghue had 53 previous convictions for various offences that included violent disorder.

Mr Hennessy had 16 previous convictions, all but two of which were recorded under the Public Order Act.

Judge Elizabeth MacGrath applied the Probation Act in Ms O’Donnell’s case. She had no previous convictions.

In the case of Mr Hennessy, Mr O’Donoghue and Mr O’Donnell, the judge said that they had disrupted peace in a housing estate in the middle of the day and should face a custodial sentence.

However, she said she did not want to aggravate the situation and a community service order might be more appropriate.

She ordered an assessment of their suitability for community service and put their cases back to June 9.

William O’Donnell was in court and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest.

Judge MacGrath told the defendants that there were ways of resolving disputes other than affray.

The judge also commended Garda Collins for his bravery in tackling a difficult situation on his own until reinforcements arrived.

"I have to compliment you on that," Judge MacGrath told Garda Collins, adding to the defendants: "Ye owe him a debt of gratitude - there could have been more serious charges."