Defendant’s claim ‘like a Bart Simpson defence’

JUDGE James McNulty dismissed a charge brought against a Skibbereen man accused of causing criminal damage to a house by throwing paint at it.

Insp Roísín O’Dea called Peter McDonald to give evidence at Skibbereen District Court of what he witnessed at his home at 5, Mardyke Street, Skibbereen, around midnight on the night of January 16th, 2023.

The witness for the prosecution said he heard a noise and opened his front door and caught the accused – Aodhan Ó Mhurchú (40) of Thornhill Flats, 70 Townshend Street, Skibbereen – ‘red-handed’.

‘He was throwing red paint over the house,’ said the witness who also alleged that Aodhan O’Mhurchu, accompanied by his partner Rosemary Lynch, threatened him, saying he would kick his head in.

For this alleged offence, the accused was also charged with engaging in threatening and abusive words and behaviour. Peter McDonald said he called the gardaí and Gda James Crowley arrived at 12.30am and saw the damage done to a window, door and the gable wall of the house. The witness said he asked the accused why he was doing this but Aodhan Ó Mhurchú didn’t give him an answer.

Colette McCarthy, solicitor for the accused, asked the witness if he had ever turned up at her client’s house uninvited, and if he had ever taken medication while as a guest in his home. The witness denied these allegations.

‘Why would he do this?’ the solicitor asked. ‘I don’t know,’ the witness replied, ‘but I wouldn’t have called the gardaí if I hadn’t caught him red-handed.’

Gda James Crowley said he took the complaint from Peter McDonald and during the course of his investigation discovered that two CCTV cameras in the area were not working.

The garda said he contacted the accused who told him he was on a two-week holiday in Portugal. He denied making threats or throwing paint. In his own defence, Aodhan Ó Mhurchú denied the allegations saying they were ‘a complete lie’.

He said he and his partner went to Cork that night before getting the bus to the airport in Dublin. The accused said he knew Peter McDonald for 10 years but had never threatened him.

Rosemary Lynch also gave evidence. She told the court: ‘He wasn’t there.’ She also said she wasn’t there.

The witness for the defence said they left Skibbereen that night to go to Cork before leaving on January 17th for Dublin Airport.

In criminal prosecutions, Judge McNulty said cases have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

He said he found Peter McDonald to be a credible witness but was less impressed with Aodhan Ó Mhurchu’s defence that he was on a bus to elsewhere, likening it to a Bart Simpson defence: ‘I didn’t do it, nobody saw me do it.’

‘I have a doubt about your client’s innocence,’ Judge McNulty said to Ms McCarthy.

‘It is possible that this was one last flourish before leaving for Cork to get the bus to Dublin. I have a doubt about his innocence but I also have a doubt about his guilt and he is entitled to have the case against him dismissed because it is not proven,’ the judge concluded.