A 40-year-old father of six with previous convictions for assault and domestic violence had perpetrated a "totally unprovoked" assault on Circuit Court Judge Brian Curtin, a District Court heard in Tralee yesterday.
Presiding judge, Judge Gerard Haughton, twice warned against turning the case into "the trial of the victim," after solicitor for the accused argued the assault on Judge Curtin was provoked by a remark about the Travelling Community.
Judge Curtin who was not in the court room yesterday, was available to be called, the court was told.
Thomas Hallissey, of 73 Mitchel's Crescent Tralee, was offered 120 hours community service, as an alternative to spending six months in prison in view of Judge Curtin "specifically" requesting the court not treat him harshly.
Hallissey pleaded guilty to assaulting Brian Curtin at Castle Street Tralee on March 21st, 2004. A second charge of being intoxicated in a public place was withdrawn by the DPP at the outset of the trial today.
State Solicitor, Ed O' Sullivan, said Judge Curtin was on Castle St telephoning a colleague who had not turned up when the accused passed by and said: "I suppose you are ringing young ones, you should be hung."
Judge Curtin did not reply; however the accused returned and said: "You gave me 18 months. You are only a paedophile." "Mr Curtin said I don't know you and I am not a paedophile," Mr O'Sullivan told the court.
Hallissey then hit him three times on the face, the court was told. "Brian Curtin would say the blows were not strong," Mr O'Sullivan said.
Hallissey had several previous convictions, for public order, larceny, criminal damage, a road traffic offence, as well as a number for assault. He had been convicted also a number of times for domestic violence, "and several other offences going back to the last century," Mr O'Sullivan said.
Solicitor for the accused, Joe Mannix, said his client was unemployed, was a grandfather as well as a father of six, two of whom were in special schools. He was a settled member of the Travelling Community in Tralee.
He had had a lot of drinking problems in the past and came from a "background that has its own difficulties" and it had been three years since his last conviction.
On the afternoon in question he believed he heard Judge Curtin say something derogatory to another person on the street about two members of the Travelling Community who were in the vicinity, Mr Mannix said.
His client regretted what happened, and apologised, but there were "extenuating circumstances" and there was "provocation" in the accused's eyes, Mr Mannix continued.
However, Mr O'Sullivan said he "would absolutely refute" Mr Curtin made any remark derogatory of the Travelling Community . The allegation had not been made in Hallissey's original statement to the Garda.
A second statement Mr Hallissey made said: "I heard Judge Curtin say look at those pavees across the street. I pulled him on that and said if they were on a computer you would not said that," Mr O'Sullivan read from Hallissey's second statement.
A Garda patrol was passing at the time and witnessed much of the incident, Mr O' Sullivan said. "The Garda are quite satisfied Mr Curtin was not talking to another person but was on the phone," Mr O'Sullivan said.
Judge Haughton rejected Mr Mannix's statement that there was "no reason" why the accused would "out of the blue" launch an attack on Mr Curtin. He said the fact Hallissey had previous convictions might contradict that. He had numerous convictions for assault, both ordinary convictions and convictions under the Domestic Violence Act., Judge Haughton noted.
Hallissey had chosen not to go into the witness box and give sworn evidence to back up his allegation against the victim, Judge Haughton said. "This was an unprovoked assault on an innocent victim," he said.
The only way to stamp it out was by imposing a prison sentence. However "in view of the victim's attitude", he was convicting Hallissey and sentencing him to six months in prison but was offering him "an alternative" of 120 hours community service.
Mr Mannix said his client would accept the alternative and Judge Haughton adjourned the case to 4th May for the preparation of the community service report.