Man admits to assault at Greenhills Industrial Estate

A woman who was assaulted by a man whose business adjoins hers in a Drogheda industrial estate, has said she was terrified at the time, and still is.

Before the district court was Hojatullah Surkahrezi (46), 1 Norvue House, Rope Walk, Drogheda, who admitted charges of assault and criminal damage at Greenhills Industrial Estate, on 2 March, 2017.

Judge Coughlan heard the victim was concerned her premises would go on fire when the accused was burning materials.

Surkahrezi ‘very much over-reacted’. His barrister Ronan O’Carroll said a verbal altercation ensued when the neighbour complained. He wanted the guards called. He shouldn’t have acted the way he did, he said.

Mr. O’Carroll added Surkahrezi has €1,000 compensation, over and above the amount involved, and that this, and an apology, has been accepted.

The defendant has a previous conviction for assault from 2012, when he received a ninemonth suspended sentence, which prompted the judge to remark: ‘ He has a history of violence.’

The injured party in this matter told the court: ‘I was assaulted. I was terrified. I still am. I have to work in a unit in the same industrial estate.’

Judge Coughlan advised her to consult her solicitor again, and ask them to attend on the next day.

He adjourned the case to 16 February, 2018, adding he has no view on it at the moment.

He told the guards to hang on to the €1,000.