A MAN from Castletownshend was advised by Judge James McNulty to get legal representation if he decides to appeal a three-month prison sentence for assault. Contradictory evidence was given in a case at Skibbereen District Court in which Seamus Cullen of 9, St Barrahane’s Ave, Castletownshend, was charged with assaulting Colm Cahalane on November 2nd, 2022.
Judge McNulty held that Colm Cahalane’s evidence – that Seamus Cullen pushed him twice in the chest after remonstrating with him over a parking matter – was credible. The judge sentenced Seamus Cullen to three months imprisonment but fixed recognisances so the accused could have an opportunity to appeal the conviction.
Colm Cahalane, who was on his way to work shortly after 8am, claimed that the accused was violent and aggressive in his demeanour before pushing him in the chest, and then pushed him again.
The judge noted that he had, at a previous court, offered the accused free legal aid but Seamus Cullen chose to represent himself. This, the judge said, was ‘a poor choice’. The judge then advised Seamus Cullen to have legal representation in the higher court.
On a second charge of engaging in threatening and abusive words and behaviour towards Martin Cahalane and his son Jordan outside their adjacent homes on December 5th 2022, the judge sentenced Seamus Cullen to two months imprisonment but he suspended that sentence for two years.
Martin Cahalane and Jordan Cahalane gave evidence that Seamus Cullen and his partner Martina Dennehy were parked outside the entrance to their respective homes and that they waited for a while to see if they would move on.
When they didn’t, the two men got out of their van. The couple approached them and complained about CCTV cameras that the Cahalanes had installed at the front and rear of their property.
Judge McNulty said the lack of specificity in the evidence given by Martin and Jordan Cahalane didn’t meet the accusation contained in the charge. But a third witness in that case, Ross Cahalane, outlined how he came on the scene as he, too, was returning home from work and he described Seamus Cullen’s behaviour as intimidating.
‘He looked all three of us in the eye and said: “I will kill you, I will kill you, I will kill you,” said the witness for the prosecution. ‘He was really riled up.’ In cross examination by Seamus Cullen, the witness said six people did not attack the accused.
Martina Dennehy, who also resides at 9 St Barrahane’s Ave, Castletownshend, was charged with engaging in threatening and abusive evidence on December 5th 2022 but Judge McNulty dismissed the charge against her on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
In evidence, Seamus Cullen said six people had surrounded him and his partner. He said Martina told him, ‘Go into the house, they won’t hit me’ and he did just that. Seamus Cullen denied pushing Colm Cahalane. He said he stretched out his arm, pointed into the distance, and said: ‘Go on.’ ‘Nothing else happened. I never touched him.’
In evidence, Martina Dennehy corroborated the evidence given by her partner saying: ‘There was no assault.’In cases where there is a conflict of evidence, the judge said his job is to evaluate the strength of the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses.
‘Colm Cahalane is a credible and truthful witness. Seamus Cullen is not a credible or truthful witness,’ he said.
Insp Roísín O’Dea said the accused has five previous convictions – four of which are for road traffic offences, and one for assault. ‘Within one year you are reoffending and pushing a man, throwing your weight around,’ the judge said to the accused. ‘Someone needs to call a halt.’
The two-month sentence for the public order offence was suspended on condition that the accused keep the peace and be of good behaviour towards all people, especially Colm, Martin, Jordan and Ross Cahalane, and their families.
