‘Not at all reasonable’ man called woman ‘a fat tramp’

A DROMAHAIR man had the facts proved against him after he denied a charge of using threatening and abusive behaviour in a lengthy contested case at Manorhamilton District Court. Michael Kivlehan of Friarstown, Dromahair, pleaded not guilty to the offence at Main Street, Dromahair, on February 3 last year.

In finding the facts proved, Judge Kevin Kilrane said the defendant had made “outrageous allegations against a garda”.

The judge said the defendant presented himself as a “reasonable liveand-let-live person”, but he really he was “a truculent, aggressive person who is not at all reasonable”.

Sarah Dowdican told the court that on February 3 last year she had parked her car outside a shop in Dromahair. As she and her youngest child walked to the shop, the defendant had shouted “you fat tramp” at her as he was parked in his jeep outside the shop. Ms Dowdican said she went into the shop but was so distressed that she had to be comforted by staff.

Defence solicitor Mark Mullaney said he was instructed that any aggression between her family and the defendant was coming from her own side.

He added that the witness had done a U-turn in front of the defendant almost causing an accident in 2017. Ms Dowdican denied the solicitor’s suggestion that her family had threatened and intimidated the defendant after this incident.

She added that she knew nothing of allegations that her sister had given the defendant a piece of her mind and that her father had confronted him when he was painting his home.

The witness also denied that she was “painting Mr Kivlehan in a very poor light”.

She said she was not lying, was in the shop and was crying, which could be seen on CCTV.

Garda Conor McDonagh told the court that CCTV footage showed both vehicles parked outside the shop. There was no interaction between Ms Dowdican and the person in the jeep and the jeep moved away.

He said the window on the jeep was closed and Mr Mullaney suggested that Ms Dowdican had not reacted like as if she had been just insulted.

The witness said everyone reacts differently, but he believed from the CCTV that there was no reaction from Ms Dowdican.

Meanwhile, Garda Flannery told the court he went to the defendant’s address to get a statement.

The garda asked the defendant to move to the front street where the garda car was parked so they could be socially distanced.

But the defendant refused, saying the garda was harassing him and would make up stories.

The defendant said he would contact the superintendent and his solicitor. The witness said he repeatedly tried to get the defendant to make a statement, but the latter refused.

Judge Kilrane turned down a request from Mr Mullaney for a direction as there was no direct evidence that his client had verbally abused Ms Dowdican and the window of the jeep had been closed at the time.

Judge Kilrane said there was a case to answer as nobody else had been on the street and CCTV proved it.

The defendant denied verbally abusing McDowdican and other allegations saying Ms Dowdican’s family were intimidating him.

He said on one occasion Ms Dowdican’s sister had come to his door and gave him a “torrent of abuse”. The defendant said she slapped and kicked the door, and he called the gardaí for help as he was concerned for his son as he was only five.

He added that he was sandblasting railings near his own house when Ms Dowdican’s father approached him, and he had to go into the house as he felt intimidated.

The witness said he had made complaints about other members of Ms Dowdican’s family, but nothing was done.

The defendant said that when Garda Flannery and another garda called to his house in May last year he tried to explain that the allegations were false. The defendant alleged that Garda Flannery threatened to take his child and he described all the allegations against him as “lies and character assassination”.

He also alleged that the garda would not tell him the reason why he had called, and wanted to take him away in the patrol car.

The defendant said he had to change the times for collecting his son to avoid

Ms Dowdican and said he would never speak in that fashion to a woman. Judge Kilrane said this was a “swearing match” between both parties. He said he found the evidence of the defendant “exaggerated in the extreme”.

The judge said he had been making up some of it as he went along in the witness box.

“The defendant has presented himself as a reasonable individual but his interview with Garda Flannery was telling.”

The judge said the defendant had made the most outrageous allegations against this garda.

The defendant had alleged that the garda had effectively told him that he was going to arrest him and have his child removed.

“This did not happen, and the defendant knows it did not happen.” “The attitude of the defendant today is that of a person who is very reasonable, law-abiding and a live-and-let-live person.

“But what is indicated by the evidence of Garda Flannery is that he is a truculent, aggressive person, who is not at all reasonable.”

As a result, Judge Kilrane said he could not believe Mr Kivlehan’s account of what happened on February 3 last year.

The judge found the facts proved and applied a section of the Probation Act that is technically a conviction.

The judge said this was on condition that he had no contact with the Dowdican family.