A man who smashed up four cars belonging to another man’s family in a case of mistaken identity has received a suspended prison sentence.
Shane Fowler (34) went to a house which he thought was the home of a local drug dealer who had introduced his ex-partner to crack cocaine.
Gardaí arrested him near the scene but he was too drunk to be interviewed. When he sobered up later he was surprised to learn that the house belonged to a different man and his family.
Fowler of Westwood Road, Finglas, Dublin received a suspended two year sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after pleading guilty to two counts of criminal damage and unlawful possession of an axe in Finglas on October 31st, 2015.
His previous convictions include dangerous driving, endangerment and car theft but most of them are from 2007.
Judge Terence O’Neill said that Fowler had since rehabilitated himself significantly. He said that Fowler’s remorse for his actions was genuine.
He suspended a sentence of two years on condition that he pay €500 over to the victims in the next three months.
This is in addition to €500 handed in to court by Fowler as a token of his remorse. Judge O’Neil ordered this also be given to the victim.
Before sentencing Judge O’Neill said it seemed irrational to target someone who was involved in a criminality “of that nature” in the way Fowler planned to do that night.
“You’d be taking a big risk, unless you had a bigger gun behind you,” he said.
Seamus Clarke BL, defending, said that his client was very drunk on the night and was not behaving rationally.
He said Fowler was drinking at a house party and met a person who told him a man selling crack cocaine was now dating Fowler’s former partner.
He knew she had become addicted to crack cocaine and blamed this man. He “lost it”, counsel said.
Garda Robbie Byrne agreed that there was a man living near the victim’s house who was known to them. He also told Anne Marie Lawlor BL, prosecuting, that the total cost of the damages was €7,188.
She said the victim, who has a tangential role in the justice system, feared at first he had been targeted on purpose. Mr Clarke said his client deeply regretted what he did. He provided the court with a number of references, including one from a plumbing company where he is training as a plumber.