Wexford man assaulted elderly Dublin tourist who accidently entered his property
Wexford PeopleA Wexford man has been found guilty of assaulting an elderly Dublin man who accidentally entered his property at Fethard-On-Sea while looking for somewhere to park his campervan.
Sean Neville (53) of Tay Lane, Fethard-On-Sea, Wexford, was before Wexford District Court where he was charged with assaulting Joseph Mulhall, a tourist from Dublin, who mistakenly entered his property on August 25 2023.
Mr. Mulhall gave evidence that on the day in question he had met with some friends at Fethard-On-Sea. He had left his campervan and gone for a cycle through the town and went into a cul-de-sac which looked out onto the sea, unaware it was a private house.
He was then confronted by the accused, who had his four-year-old child in his arms. The injured party stated that Neville dragged the handle bars of the bike, punched him in the head, pushed him on the ground, and also stamped on the bike. Mr. Mulhall, who was 72 years of age at the time, pleaded with Neville to let him out but was instead met with insults and “no mercy”.
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Eileen O’Neill, solicitor for the defendant, presented a Google Maps photo of the area to the court, alongside pictures of the “private property keep out” signage at the house. Mr. Mulhall stated he did not see these signs and was unaware he was on someone’s property until Neville appeared in the garden shouting at him to leave and insulting him.
Ms. O’Neill then played CCTV taken from Neville’s father’s property for the court which showed the accused holding his son in one arm, and the bike in the other. Mr. Mulhall appears to charge at Neville with his head down, headbutting his young son in the back in the process. Mr. Mulhall stated he was defending himself and this was after he had tried to leave the property and the accused pulled the bike to the ground.
Ms. O’Neill suggested there was discrepancies in the complainant’s evidence as when Mr. Mulhall had initially reported the incident to Garda Maher he said when he returned from his cycle there was a man standing outside the campervan with a baby in his arms.
Garda Ljevar told the court that when he attended the scene, he met with the victim who had cuts on his face and a black eye. He took photos of the injuries which were shown to the court. Initially, the victim had stated he did not wish to press charges but changed his mind and subsequently attended at Dundrum Garda Station where he made a statement to Garda Eoin Brennan.
Around the same time Neville attended at New Ross Garda Station and made a complaint of trespassing on his property. In his statement, Neville alleges he tried to block his yard to prevent Mr. Mulhall from leaving when he said “you better get out of my way” and came at him at speed on the bicycle. He stated Mr. Mulhall then got off the bike and he grabbed it to prevent him from leaving until the Gardai arrived.
He alleges this is when Mr. Mulhall charged at him but missed and hit his son in the back instead. Neville claimed he then became irate and did swear at him as he had hurt his son. He stated the injuries the victim sustained were a result of Mr. Mulhall holding his arm, and when he pulled it free his hand slipped and hit Mr. Mulhall in the face. The defendant said he had reason to be cautious of trespassers on his property as his father’s home had been robbed twice, to the value of €8,000.
Judge John King held up the picture of the injuries to Mr. Mulhall’s face stating “a picture speaks a thousand words” and that in looking at the age of Mr. Mulhall against Neville he finds this version of events hard to believe.
Ms. O’Neill submitted to the court that Neville is 53 years of age, he is married with one child, he works in IT and has no previous convictions save for one of malicious damage in 1992. The defendant’s solicitor also highlighted how there was no victim impact statement given to the court in this matter and there were also no financial losses sustained.
Judge King ruled that Neville had assaulted an elderly man and ordered him to serve 100 hours of community service in lieu of three months imprisonment.