Waterford District Court recently heard a case of a man who pushed his ex-partner through a glass door and headbutted the windscreen of another person’s car during separate arguments.
Brandon Power (31) of 89 Central Avenue, Lisduggan, Waterford, appeared before a sitting of Waterford District Court last month before Judge John Cheatle, where he was charged with assault causing harm, contrary to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, and damaging property, contrary to Section 2 of the Criminal Damage Act, 1991. This related to separate incidents that occurred in 2021 and 2022.
Detective Garda Anne Marie Hennessy told the court that on 14 December, 2021, the injured party in the case reported to Gardaí that her partner at the time, identified as the accused, had punched the windscreen of their car after an argument, as they were parked at a service station in Waterford city.
Det. Hennessy said that on the same day, an incident occurred where the couple had an argument at the mobile home where they lived together.
The Detective outlined that the woman reported that she was physically assaulted by the accused during an argument. She told Gardaí that the accused kicked a glass door, cracked it, and then pushed her, causing her to fall into it. This caused injuries to the woman’s left hand and knuckles on her right hand, and photos of her injuries were presented to Judge Cheatle.
Det. Hennessy added that although this incident occurred on the same day, it was not reported to Gardaí until March 2022.
Sergeant John Phelan outlined that a separate incident involving a different injured party occurred on 22 March, 2022 at Canada Street, Waterford city.
The Sergeant said the accused headbutted the rear window of a car following an argument with another person, which caused damage at an estimated cost of around €500-€600.
It was noted that the accused has no previous convictions.
Acting for the defendant, solicitor Ken Cunningham firstly highlighted the assault incident occurred over four years ago, and the damaged property incident occurred in March 2022.
He reiterated that his client has no previous convictions, and has not come to Garda attention in the interim period before appearing in court.
Mr. Cunningham added that his client is fully responsible and ‘accepts culpability’ for the incidents, that it is “water under the bridge” and both parties have since moved on from it.
A letter of apology prepared by the accused, character testimonials, and a victim impact statement from the woman were presented to Judge Cheatle but not read out in court.
Mr. Cunningham also said that there was ‘no deliberate intention’ with the incident involving the glass door assault, and his client has since gone through a “period of reflection” by moving abroad to work, but as soon as he returned, he set about resolving things with the injured parties.
The solicitor highlighted his client’s “excellent work history” which has made him a “stable and focused” individual that has “come back to the best version of himself.”
Mr. Cunningham concluded by telling the Judge that the accused brought his ‘life savings’ of €4,500 to court as compensation to the injured parties, indicating that €4,000 would be for the woman and €500 would go to the victim who had their car window damaged.
Judge Cheatle asked the woman involved how much she was left “out of pocket” by the damage that was done by the accused, and she replied that she was at a loss of €8,000 from it.
The Judge told the woman about the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal, which offers reimbursement to victims of crime, and said she could possibly pursue that avenue.
After a short consultation between Det. Hennessy and the woman, it was decided that she would be happy to accept compensation from the accused.
Judge Cheatle initially enquired whether the woman would be open to the penalty of restorative justice for the accused, which would involve a victim-defendant mediation programme.
“It’s not the easy way out that people might think, it can give closure,” the Judge said.
However, the woman indicated that she would not be interested in this.
Judge Cheatle decided to make a compensation order for the accused to pay €4,000 to the woman, and €500 to the other injured party and marked the charges as taken into consideration.
Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme
Robyn Power
