John O’Donoghue’s assault and violent disorder convictions quashed

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Court of Appeal quashed John O’Donoghue’s convictions for assault causing serious harm and violent disorder on 16 February 2024, finding that a failure to seek CCTV footage had deprived him of a reasonable prospect of a defence.

A jury at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court had convicted O’Donoghue in November 2021 over an incident involving Willie O’Driscoll Snr, then aged 74, at Bothar Buí, Rathkeale, Co Limerick, on 17 December 2017. The jury found him not guilty of producing a machete during a dispute and making threats to kill.

O’Donoghue had pleaded not guilty to all four charges. He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for assault causing serious harm and a concurrent eight-year term for violent disorder.

At the appeal hearing on 28 November 2023, his counsel Michael Bowman said O’Donoghue claimed he had been assaulted by Mr O’Driscoll. Counsel also argued that the verdicts conflicted because O’Donoghue had been acquitted of producing a machete but convicted of an assault involving injuries counsel said could only have been caused by one.

Ms Justice Tara Burns said the State had not rebutted a woman’s account that operational CCTV was available and that gardaí had permission to view it. The court found significant failings in the CCTV investigation. The appeal panel also included Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy and Ms Justice Úna Ní Raifeartaigh.

The court described the late disclosure of a garda notebook as inappropriate, but found the material did not add significantly to the evidence and that this ground did not establish that the conviction was unsafe. The case was adjourned to 22 March 2024 for discussion of a possible retrial.