Three elderly brothers subjected a younger brother to "a 12-hour period of terror" when bad feeling came to a head because he had not helped their mother during a heart attack.
One of the brothers, aged 66, was yesterday sentenced to a month's imprisonment while warrants were issued for the arrests of the other two, aged 67 and 62, who did not turn up in court, along with their 45-year-old nephew who was also convicted, in his absence, of the attack.
Judge Brian Sheridan found Kevin (67), Martin (66), and Jarlath (62) Duggan, guilty of assaulting their brother Eugene (60) following a row in the family home at Collins Avenue, Whitehall, Dublin, on October 11th, 2004, a month before their mother died. Eugene Duggan jnr (45), Thatch Road, Whitehall, was also convicted in his absence.
Only Martin, a retired bricklayer, turned up yesterday for the hearing of the charges to which he pleaded not guilty.
Dublin District Court heard there had been a history of bad feeling between the three brothers and their brother Eugene. Martin told gardaí he had not spoken to Eugene because he "did nothing" to help their mother when she had a heart attack over a year previously.
On the day of the incident, Eugene told the court, a row broke out between himself and Jarlath who punched him in the face. Martin joined in and threatened him with a scissors.
Another row broke out later with Martin, whose son Eugene jnr, was in the house. He said Martin and his son attacked him, with Eugene jnr punching him in the face, fracturing his nose.
Eugene went to hospital where he was discharged. He returned home and was attacked in his bedroom by all three brothers. Kevin grabbed him by the hair and tried to hit his head off the floor, he said. They wanted him out of the house because they wanted "vacant possession", he said.
Judge Sheridan said he would impose penalties on the other two brothers and the nephew when they are brought in to court on arrest warrants.