Man attacked with his own umbrella during brawl ‘brought it on himself’

BY DAVID FORSYTHE

A MAN who was attacked with his own umbrella during a late-night brawl in Macroom ‘brought it on himself’, according to the presiding judge.

Giving evidence, Garda Darragh Moore told Macroom District Court that he was called to an incident on Main Street in the town at around 1am on October 16th, 2022.

When he arrived at the scene he found Timothy O’Keeffe, 27, of Alderbrook, Frankfield, Cork in a highly intoxicated state with marks on his face and a cut to the back of his head.

Garda Moore said that Mr O’Keeffe was ‘reluctant’ to tell him what happened and was ‘quite difficult’ to deal with but he eventually persuaded him to get into an ambulance and he was taken to Cork University Hospital.

Garda Moore later accessed the town’s CCTV system and was able to find footage of the night in question.

The court heard that the footage was very clear and showed Mr O’Keeffe ‘engaging’ in what looked to be aggressive behaviour with three other men who were standing outside TP Cotter’s pub.

Mr O’Keeffe is seen to gesture at the men who at first ignore him. He then walks to the middle of the street, throws down his umbrella and jacket and takes up a boxing stance towards the three men.

The court heard that further footage shows the three men charging at Mr O’Keeffe on two occasions with the umbrella and footage shows the men and Mr O’Keeffe fighting further down the street.

Giving evidence Mr O’Keeffe told the court that he had been on a night out with work colleagues in Dunmanway and he had been dropped by a bus in Macroom where he was due to catch a lift home.

He admitted his recollection of the night was not good due to the amount of alcohol he consumed.

He said he had got separated from a friend after he left the bus and that the three men had been verbally abusive towards him.

He admitted under questioning that he did appear to be acting aggressively on the CCTV footage but claimed he was provoked and denied hitting anybody.

Defence solicitor Patrick Goold said that at no point on the CCTV did Mr O’Keeffe charge towards the three men and he did not accept that his client was ‘actively trading blows’ with the other three men.

He said that his client had issues with alcohol and had abstained since the incident and was also attending regular counselling.

Judge James McNulty said that the evidence against Mr O’Keeffe was clear.

He said: ‘The CCTV is very clear. He shows engagement, provocation and incitement.

‘It is very clear that he is inciting the other three men. They are giving him a fool’s pardon and ignoring him for quite some time. Then he crosses to the centre of the road and he confronts them.

‘It is clear to me that he was inciting, provoking and threatening them. It was not momentary, he certainly brought this on himself,’ he added.

The court heard that Mr O’Keeffe had seven previous convictions that include assault and obstruction.

Judge McNulty found the charge of affray proven and remanded him on bail to appear again on March 20th for introduction to the probation service.