FORMER TD STRUCK MAN WITH GLASS ... AND GOT A €750 FINE
VICTIM: Enda Duffy sustained a minor injury to an arm after he was assaulted with a broken glass.
ATTACKER: Seán Conlan, a then 42-year-old solicitor walked free but was fined €750. A FORMER Fine Gael TD avoided a custodial sentence in February of this year when he was convicted of a pub assault in his family-owned premises in Co Monaghan.
Instead, he was fined €750 for the offence.
Seán Conlan, a then 42year-old solicitor of Main Street, Ballybay, was charged with unlawfully assaulting and causing harm to Enda Duffy of Annahia, Ballybay, at the licensed premises in Ballybay, on August 23 last year.
He also faced a charge for the use of a broken pintglass during the incident.
During the altercation Mr Duffy sustained a minor injury to an arm.
Judge Conal Gibbons said at a special sitting of the District Court that the assault was one at ‘the lower scale’.
A victim impact statement was presented to the judge by Fiona Murphy BL.
Defence lawyer James MacGuill handed in a number of testimonials outlining the ‘excellent character’ of Conlan, whom he said had a ‘blameless record’.
Judge Gibbons said that it was evident the consumption of alcohol by the parties in the pub had contributed to the ‘flash-of-the-moment’ incident. Judge Gibbons said it was also clear the assault was not premeditated.
The judge said he was impressed by the testimonials presented to the court which indicated how Conlan, who is a former Dáil representative, was held in the highest esteem in the community by all his colleagues.
He said the only penalty option with which he was left was to impose a fine and, accordingly, he fined Conlan €750, allowing him six months to pay on the assault charge.
On the application of the defence lawyer, Mr MacGuill, the judged fixed recognisances for an appeal.
Assault on ‘the lower scale’