Customer grabbed barmaid ‘by the back of her neck and hair' and tried to kiss her in pub assault
A jilted punter who grabbed a young barmaid 'by the back of her neck and hair' before trying to kiss her twice inside a midlands pub after she rejected his advances has walked free from court.
Father of one Jonathan Fereira, with an address at Thomond Court, Ballymahon, Co Longford, was handed the Probation Act following an incident at Skelly's Pub, Main Street, Ballymahon on April 29, 2023.
Fereira, who pleaded guilty to assaulting his female victim, appeared at a sitting of Longford District Court more than three months on from his initial appearance and where the accused entered a guilty plea.
Sgt Mark Mahon said Fereira accosted the young bar worker in the wake of his own unsuccessful attempts to secure her phone number and Instagram details.
The court was told as the woman attempted to walk away from the accused, Fereira pulled her in towards him by suddenly grabbing the back of her neck and hair.
In a statement provided to gardaí, the young woman told of how Fereira proceeded to lean in towards her neck area in an attempt to 'kiss her twice'.
'She stated the male had a tight grip of her hair and neck,' said Sgt Mahon, in a hold the young bar worker 'found difficult to free herself' from.
The court was told the 27-year-old had not previously come to garda attention and was someone who had no previous convictions to his name.
Bríd Mimnagh, defending, told the court how Fereira had been drinking on the night in question and had misinterpreted his victim's 'natural friendliness' to carry a more amorous connotation.
'He took it as meaning a little bit more and felt he might be able to talk and meet with her,' she said, adding how her client was acutely aware of his wrongdoing.
Jonathan Fereira exiting Longford Courthouse.
News in 90 seconds - 10th August 2025
'He completely accepts that it was wrong,' Ms Mimnagh added, sentiments she said Fereira had reinforced upon closer analysis of the young woman's victim impact statement.
Ms Mimnagh said that mindset was one which had been predicated on the fact Fereira had a younger teenage sister himself and was now supporting a partner and child of his own.
The case had previously been put back to allow Fereira undergo a restorative justice report while also allowing the accused to amass a sum of €500 for his victim.
In reading the young woman's victim impact statement, Judge Owens said the young bar worker had not, 'in any way, overexaggerated her ordeal' while noting how Fereira was fortunate to not be facing a more serious charge than the assault summons before the court.
In handing in the €500 to his victim, Fereira, Judge Owens was informed had not come to any further garda attention over the intervening three months.
On that basis and given his lack of any previous convictions, Judge Owens spared Fereira a criminal conviction by affording him the benefit of section 1(1) of the Probation Act.
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