Man denies list of charges in four-hour court hearing

A MAN FOUND in possession of a hacksaw by gardaí argued that he should not be prosecuted for breaking for what he felt was his own home.

And throughout the course of a fourhour District Court hearing, Mudasiru Colin Bello (47) also denied charges of twice assaulting Garda Sergeant PJ Griffin and of threatening/abusive behaviour.

Lagos-born Bello’s address of was given variously as 40 Bellville, New Ross; 43 Waterside New Ross; and ‘no fixed abode’.

However, the court heard that the apartment in Waterside had been taken over by a receiver while a court order had been taken out excluding him from Bellville.

He described himself to Judge Gerard Haughton as a solicitor, security specialist and private investigator, with a qualification from Carlow Institute of Technology.

He represented himself in dealing with a lengthy series of charges, all of which he denied.

First Garda Pat Kelly told how Bello was found shouting abuse in Schoolhouse Lane on September 9, 2014, telling the garda he was racist and should leave the country. The defendant grabbed him by the shoulder before two men making deliveries to SuperValu came to his assistance.

‘I don’t know what he is talking about,’ was the accused man’s response in court. ‘There was no incident.’

Judge Gerard Haughton felt otherwise and imposed a conviction for the threatening/abusive behaviour.

Evidence was provided to the judge by Suzanne Ennis of Mazar’s Ireland that 43 Waterside at Rosbercon had been taken into receivership from Jeremiah and Kay McCarthy.

Yet the accused was found there on November 25, 2014, when a steel shutter placed on a window had been peeled back.

Garda Dan Hayden arrived to discover Bello with a hacksaw attempting to break a lock on the door.

In court Bello argued that he could not be held responsible for criminal damage to his own home but had no documentary evidence to show that he was the owner.

The conviction for criminal damage was recorded.

A similar incident occurred two days later when Garda Sergeant Griffin arrived to find Bello cutting at a lock on the front door. When challenged, the accused became very aggressive and abusive before he was arrested.

‘It’s my own house,’ he insisted to the judge, complaining that he had been treated like an outcast who could be shrugged off.

Again a conviction for criminal damage was recorded.

Two days later, it was the turn of Garda Pat O’Brien to respond to a call to 43 Waterside where he heard a loud banging and observed Bello banging on the door.

He had a hammer and chisel, along with a broken lock, and he was escorted from the property in handcuffs.

A third criminal damage conviction went on to the record.

The action switched to New Ross garda station on December 16 the same year, when Colin Bello arrived in the public office.

The sergeant responded to his shouting and roaring, asking him to quieten down. He was intimidating, recalled the sergeant, making threats to his colleagues.The sergeant took the unruly visitor by the arm to escort him out of the building but found himself grabbed by the throat and then flung against as glass door, banging his head before four other gardaí moved to restrain the defendant.

After viewing CCTV footage of the incident, the judge added a conviction for assault, ignoring complaints from Bellow that he suffered a back injury during the incident.

Griffin and the defendant met at the barracks once more on the afternoon of October 19, 2105, after Garda Michelle Power felt intimidated by his presence.

He was ranting and raving, raising his voice.

Again, the sergeant pulled him by the arm and this time they made it as far as the steps outside the station before Bello punched his escort full fist in the shoulder.

On this occasion, colleagues who came to his rescue included Superintendent John McDonald.

Bello told Judge Haughton that the new suit he had just bought was damaged in the incident and there was laughter in court when he said he paid €500 for the suit.

A second assault conviction was handed down.

On June 29 last year, Bello confronted housing officials from Wexford County Council in Priory Street when they attempted to serve a legal document on him.

Mary Dunphy told how he told her he would hit her in the face and her colleague Ray Colfer recalled the defendant saying to Ms Dunphy that he would cut her into little pieces.

This was confirmed by witness Edel Skip, who remembered that Bello walked away before the squad car arrived at the scene.

The accused man said he did not know Mary Dunphy or what she was talking about before he was convicted of threatening behaviour.

On April 26, 2015, Waterside resident Michael Somers was watching football when Colin Bello arrived at his door in an agitated state, threatening and aggressive.

When he made to come across the threshold, recalled Somers in his evidence, the apartment holder pushed him back and shut the door in his face.

Such behaviour amounted to an assault on Somers, ruled the judge as he marked yet another conviction

Also called into the witness box was Joanne Swartz who described what occurred at New Ross post office on May 11 last year.

She was in the queue when Bello began shouting into her face from close range, saying that all South Africans should be deported. She felt intimidated and embarrassed by the incident, calling the gardaí.

‘I don’t see any crime committed,’ remarked Bello as the silent CCTV footage from the post office was shown to the court.

However, the judge told him that members of the public were entitled to go about their business without being accosted in this way and he convicted the defendant of a breach of the peace.

As it was 8 p.m. the judge then postponed until the court sitting of June 21 the issue of penalty.

He warned Bello that he might be facing a prison sentence on that date and suggested that he might wish to visit a solicitor in the meantime.

‘I am a solicitor,’ was the response.