Moate resident sentenced to jail term for Athlone assaults

A 33-year-old Moate resident has been jailed for violent altercations in Athlone during which he punched a taxi driver and then assaulted the proprietor of a pub.

Athlone District Court heard that a "highly intoxicated" James McCann (33) punched his first victim into the face and then went on to leave the proprietor of Gertie Browne’s Bar and Bistro with a cut over his eye, while also grabbing a staff member at the pub by the neck.

The incidents happened on Friday, November 21, last year. Mr McCann, of Dublin Road, Moate, who is currently serving a custodial sentence on an unrelated Circuit Court matter, entered guilty pleas at the district court to three counts of assault, criminal damage, and two charges of public disorder.

Giving evidence, Garda Stephanie Treacy recalled encountering the defendant's first victim shortly after taking up official duty at around 7pm on the evening in question.

She said the man, who identified himself as a taxi driver, was in "some distress" as he had reported being "punched by a customer" just moments beforehand.

Having obtained a detailed description of the man’s attacker, Garda Treacy told the court that "numerous calls" were made to the station a short time later about an unruly person who was causing a disturbance in Gertie Browne’s.

She said those reports involved a man fitting Mr McCann’s description who had taken his top off and was causing a nuisance by hassling other customers and taking their drinks.

Garda Treacy said that, when he was asked to leave, the defendant began to lash out by "swinging punches" at the pub's proprietor and then grabbing a staff member by the neck while he was attempting to escort the defendant out of the pub.

Gardaí eventually managed to arrest Mr McCann, who had to be dragged to the ground after he swept his hand along a bar counter, toppling an array of drinks glasses.

Sergeant Sandra Keane told the court that Mr McCann had 16 previous convictions for offences including assault, trespass, criminal damage, public disorder and making a threat to kill.

The most recent of these convictions came at Ballinasloe District Court in March, and saw the defendant being sentenced to a two month and three month consecutive sentence for theft.

That sentence, Sergeant Keane outlined, had the effect of triggering of a previous and unrelated Circuit Court conviction that left Mr McCann with an expected release date at the end of August.

Defence solicitor Ciara Macklin said her client's level of intoxication was such that he didn't have a clear recollection of his actions on the night, but that he wanted to convey his remorse to the court.

"He is not offering that as an excuse for his behaviour, (but) he was so off his head on the day that he doesn’t even remember it," said Ms Macklin, who said her client was engaged in ongoing battles with addiction.

"He had managed to get himself back on the right track and was attending AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings but he relapsed, and relapsed in a spectacular style," she said.

The solicitor said her client was doing well in custody, where he was working in the prison kitchen, and that he had lined up a retail job upon his release.

"When he is good he is very good, but when he is bad he is very bad," she commented.

Judge Vincent Deane said, besides the seriousness of McCann’s actions on the night, the fact that he already had a previous assault conviction on his record added a "more aggravating" aspect to the case.

He sentenced Mr McCann to eight months in prison for assault causing harm, directing that this is to run consecutively to the sentence the defendant picked up in March.

The two other assault charges, criminal damage and two counts of public disorder, were "taken into consideration" by the judge during sentencing.

Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme