A JUDGE imposed a five-month suspended sentence on a man who pleaded guilty to assault describing it as a ‘significant penalty.’
Judge Joanne Carroll told the accused at Skibbereen District Court that if he doesn’t come to the attention of the gardaí over the next two years he will not have to serve the sentence.
Michael O’Regan (54) of 38 Mariner’s Cove, Baltimore, pleaded guilty to a charge of assaulting David Kelly, causing him harm, in the toilets of Jacob’s Bar at The Square in Baltimore on May 12th 2024.
Insp Roisin O’Dea said the injured party had been on a night out with his brother when the accused approached him at the urinals and grabbed his throat in a stranglehold.
A doctor’s report confirmed that the injured man had bruising to the throat and David Kelly said that two days after the incident he suffered a panic attack.
Defence counsel said his client had pleaded guilty to the offence; had provided €1,500 in compensation to the victim; and had also tendered an apology to the court, the gardaí, and David Kelly.
In a victim impact statement, given in the witness stand, David Kelly said that as the accused approached him he ‘felt sure that he would follow through on various threats that I previously got from Mr O’Regan,’ And he added: ‘I tried to explain that I never wronged him.’
Judge Carroll described O’Regan as ‘a mature man’ with no previous convictions.
