Waterford artist became abusive to staff at Co Tipperary hotel
Sgt Carol O'Leary told Judge Brian O'Shea that gardaí were contacted by Cahir House Hotel in relation to a man who was intoxicated, and abusive to staff, on April 4 this year.
Michael Mulcahy, who gave an address of Aughnacurraveel, Ballycurrane, Clashmore, Waterford, pleaded guilty to a public order offence at the Square, Cahir, Tipperary. He has 10 previous convictions, including three for public order offences.
Mr Mulcahy told Judge O'Shea that he is an artist and had an exhibition in Cahir. He said he drank 'too much white wine' on the day. He must have had a good exhibition, commented the judge. It was nearly a sell-out, but there are a couple still left, replied Mr Mulcahy.
Judge O'Shea said that if Mr Mulcahy paid €200 to the court poor box, he would deal with the matter by way of the Probation Act, meaning that a criminal conviction would not be recorded.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sunday World
2 days ago
- Sunday World
Garda assaulted teen joyrider with ‘gratuitous' knee to stomach as he arrested him
The youth had already surrendered following a pursuit and was being restrained when Garda Dean Chapman struck him with 'no need', a court heard A garda assaulted a teenage joyrider with a 'gratuitous' knee to the stomach as he arrested him after a 'highly reckless' road rampage around a busy shopping centre. The youth had already surrendered following a pursuit and was being restrained when Garda Dean Chapman struck him with 'no need', a court heard. Chapman (35), who has since left the force and is now a firefighter and paramedic, pleaded guilty when he appeared in Dublin District Court. Judge Aine Clancy applied the Probation of Offenders Act, sparing him a recorded conviction, after he made a €1,000 charity donation. Chapman admitted assaulting the teenager at an address in west Dublin following a road chase around the Blanchardstown Centre on January 22, 2023. The court heard the car was stolen in Tipperary and was driven dangerously in a garda pursuit which ended when it was abandoned in the shopping centre. The teenager was arrested at a nearby house and Chapman placed a hand on his shoulder before bringing him to the ground. When the youth was being brought back to his feet, Chapman kneed him in the abdominal area. The garda air support unit had been involved in the pursuit and the helicopter footage was played to the court, showing the car being driven at speed through traffic on a busy afternoon at the Blanchardstown Centre. Chapman, who had no previous convictions, was involved in the pursuit from the M50 and the court had seen an example of 'what can only be described as highly reckless and dangerous driving' by the stolen car, his barrister said. Garda Dean Chapman. Photo: Collins Courts News in 90 Seconds - 5th June 2025 He had witnessed this before the encounter with the teenager who was 'previously known to the gardai and had not been compliant with them.' This was to the forefront of Chapman's mind when he struck the victim in a 'momentary aberration of character.' The victim was now serving a prison sentence. Chapman had worked in the gardai for four years as well in the defence forces and had an 'exemplary record.' The assault incident was one factor in Chapman's decision to resign from the gardai. The lawyer asked the judge to consider the effect a conviction would have for someone like Chapman, who was dealing with the public on a daily basis. The court heard he had one child and another on the way. Judge Clancy said she had seen the 'horrendous' driving that took place in the lead up to the assault. 'It's a knee to the abdomen of the injured party, it was gratuitous, he was already restrained and there was no need to do that,' she said. However, she dismissed the charge under the Probation Act after the €1,000 donation was made.
Irish Examiner
29-05-2025
- Irish Examiner
Judge to consider prison sentence for Cork man who tried to choke his wife
A woman tearfully described on Thursday how her husband tried to choke her in the family home and made highly personally insults to her. Judge Philip O'Leary said that after hearing of one incident when the woman was in fear the day after she was granted a protection order, he might have dealt with the matter under the Probation Act, but he said it was made much more serious by this second incident where the man assaulted his wife. 'This second matter may merit a prison sentence. I will put it back for a probation report and maybe an assessment for his suitability for a community service order,' Judge O'Leary said. The judge told the defendant's solicitor Pat Mullins that he should impress on the 37-year-old man the seriousness of the situation and the importance of co-operating with the probation service. The two cases against the same defendant were heard at an in-camera hearing of Cork District Court to deal with matters under the Domestic Violence Act. Two incidents Garda Clare Sheehan agreed under cross-examination that the first incident on September 10, 2024, was verbal but that it was serious enough that the complainant felt it necessary to lock herself into her bedroom. The victim said that her husband reacted when he became aware that she had obtained a protection order, saying: 'How dare you take out a protection order… My life is over. So is yours. You are a whore.' He denied saying this and said that his wife had anger management issues and that he had a protection order against her too. Garda David Ahern said of the second more recent incident that he responded to a 999 call about an alleged breach of a protection order. The injured party said that after an argument: 'He grabbed my neck and tried to choke me. He pushed me and I hit my head on the radiator. He sat on to me and said something really bad about my private area.' The defendant denied all of this and said she was the one who slapped him in the face and that previously he was hospitalised after an incident at home. He said of her evidence: 'It is all a fabricated story. It is all made up. It is not genuine.' Judge O'Leary convicted him on both breaches of the protection order. Sentencing was adjourned until September 11 to allow time for a probation report.
Sunday World
11-05-2025
- Sunday World
Ex-soldier convicted of murdering mum-of-one had been violent to three former partners
Keith Byrne choked previous partner, cops told In his evidence, 34-year-old Keith Byrne, from Duleek, sickeningly claimed the 36-year-old mum-of-one took her own life at their four-star Magnolia Hotel in the popular Costa Daurada resort of Salou. The truth was he strangled Kirsty to death with a hair-straightener power cord on July 2, 2023 after she told him she was leaving him. The liar also described himself to jurors as a 'respectful and intelligent' father-of-three who would never commit an act of domestic violence. However, the Sunday World understands Spanish prosecutors already knew that this was a lie and were armed with evidence from a former girlfriend of Byrne's that he was in fact a serial woman abuser. This woman had previously told of her ordeal at Byrne's hands in an interview with the Sunday World following Kirsty's murder. In the interview, the woman said she was speaking out as she didn't want Byrne to be tried as someone who had been violent as a one-off 'as if it is the first time he has hurt someone'. Murder victim Kirsty Ward The woman, who is aged in her 30s, said she had been in a relationship with Byrne for several years and that she 'went into shock' and had been unable to work after hearing news of Kirsty's murder. 'I felt it could have been me and I am very grateful to the help of my family and friends to get me out of the situation after he attacked me,' she said. Recalling her ordeal at the hands of the murderer, the woman said that after a night out, he threw her onto the floor of a bedroom they were in and then 'grabbed me by the throat put his hands on my throat and he held it until I blacked out'. She said the incident came to an end when other people walked into the room and the woman ended her relationship with him in the following days. 'I thought I was going to die. It all felt very surreal after that, I knew I had to leave him,' she explained. Following Kirsty's murder, the woman said she had informed gardaí in Ashbourne of the attack on her as well as incidents of violence involving Byrne and two other former partners. Gardaí then made this information available to Interpol who informed the Spanish authorities and the Spanish prosecutors probing Kirsty's murder. The Sunday World has also learned that disgraced former soldier Byrne has been abusing alcohol for over a decade. We have established that he was convicted of drink-driving at the Bullring in Drogheda in January of 2013 and disqualified from driving for two years. Byrne was in trouble with gardaí on just one other occasion in this country but on that occasion he was arrested alongside a future Kinahan Cartel soldier who would go on to become a top target for gardaí. The same month he and Caolan Smyth were arrested after they were caught trying to siphon diesel from a car to put in Smyth's petrol car. Both were given the Probation Act on that occasion but Smyth is currently serving a 20-year jail term for the attempted murder of Hutch associate James 'Mago' Gately. Former soldier Keith Byrne was found guilty of murdering mum-of-one Kirsty Ward News in 90 seconds - 12th May 2025 In the wake of these brushes with the law, sources say Byrne spent a lot of time in the UK where he was a soldier with the British Army based with the Irish Guards and Parachute Regimen. Byrne went absent without leave in 2017 and had been sought by the British Army's Royal Military Police ever since. During Byrne's trial in Tarragona, Spanish prosecutor Javier Goimil rubbished Byrne's claims that Kirsty had taken her own life. He said the truth was when Kirsty has told him she was going to leave him he had decided: 'You're mine or you're nobody's' and strangled her to death. He said the 34-year-old had concocting the suicide story after being told he could spend most of the next three decades behind bars. He told the court: 'Byrne has adapted his version of events of what happened in that time-frame nearly two years on in accordance with the evidence he's learnt there is against him. 'He's saying Kirsty tied a cable round her neck and attached it to the door knob but in the state she was in it would have been impossible for her to do that and there's nothing showing there was a knot in the cable. 'What's occurred is a violent and painful death, a strangulation from behind... This was not a suicide.' He added: 'She didn't leave a note for her son or her siblings or her mum and what's more she had bought a plane ticket back to Dublin for July 4. 'Kirsty's relationship with Byrne was very toxic, very intense and very emotional. She decided to end it during the week they stayed at the hotel in Salou and her partner couldn't accept that. 'His mindset at that moment was: 'You're mine or you're nobody's. You, woman, are no-one to say you're going to detach yourself from me the man and have your own independent life. That was why he killed her the way he did.' On Thursday, the jury returned a guilty verdict in the case. The trial judge said he was retiring to consider his sentence. Byrne is not expected to find out for nearly a month how long he will have to serve.
