A pensioner has been given a two-month suspended sentence for punching a photo-journalist who was covering a High Court case in Dublin.
Joseph Fagan (71), of Kildare Park, Crumlin, Dublin 12, pleaded not guilty to assaulting Paddy Cummins who told the court that he was punched three times while doing his job on October 12th, 2017.
Fagan was found guilty following his trial before Judge Geraldine Carthy at Dublin District Court on Tuesday. He had 14 previous criminal convictions dating from 1962 to 1988.
He claimed he was acting to protect his daughter Ann Marie Fagan who had been involved in a High Court personal injuries action.
Mr Cummins said he works for a photo agency and gets instructed by court reporters on what cases they were covering and from that he is told about what images they want to go with their stories. He rejected suggestions by defence counsel Fiona Pekaar that he was harassing the Fagans.
Judge Carthy said Fagan’s explanation was “unacceptable” and the assault happened “in circumstances where one party was doing their job to the best of their ability and the other party loses their temper”.
She imposed a two-month sentence but suspended it on condition that Fagan kept the peace and did not re-offend for 12 months.