a barrister who, a court heard yesterday, held a sword to the face of a motorist during a row over damage to a parked car yesterday denied possession of an offensive weapon and assault.
Mr James Gilhooly has pleaded not guilty to having a fencing sabre and assaulting Mr Shane Byrne, a barber, during the incident in Malahide in August 1999.
The incident occurred after an argument about the cause of damage to the bumper of the barber's wife's car, which was parked next to the barrister's vehicle in the town's Main Street.
The defence claims that Mr Byrne lost his temper over old damage to the car and that Mr Gilhooly was justified in fending him off using a piece of sporting equipment which was blunt and "about as effective as fencing somebody with a fishing rod".
Dublin District Court heard that Mr Byrne and his wife, Sharon, a hairdresser, were returning to the car at the same time as Mr Gilhooly was arriving at his vehicle. The back bumper of the Byrnes' vehicle was hanging off, and Mr Byrne said he asked Mr Gilhooly if he had seen anyone hit his car.
"He got angry and said he was getting the guards and would have me done for fraud, saying I was trying to defraud his insurance company," Mr Byrne said.
Mr Gilhooly left the scene to ring the gardai but when he returned he was even angrier, Mr Byrne said. He pushed into him and twice poked him with his finger in the eye. He then went to his car boot and took out a sword. "He held me at sword point until the gardai arrived," Mr Byrne said.
He denied he was the aggressor or "like a man possessed" but admitted he had been convicted a month previously of a public order offence and also had a conviction for possession of cannabis. Garda Carina Ryan said when she arrived she saw Mr Gilhooly waving the sword in the direction of Mr Byrne. The case continues.