A Dublin man who assaulted his uncle with a pole after a family dispute over money has avoided jail.
Jordan Reddy (25) appeared before the Circuit Criminal Court this morning where he received a 3 months suspended jail sentence.
Garda Sean Halpin of Finglas Garda station gave evidence that on the 15th of February 2020 at an address in Mellows Court Finglas Dublin 11, an emergency call was received from an unknown source.
The court heard that the injured party, Paul McMahon Jr. was left with a head wound and was treated for his injuries at the James Connolly Memorial Hospital, from which he discharged himself.
Mr. McMahon did not make a statement in respect of the assault on him by the accused and his brother who was 16 years old at the time.
The evidence of the assault was taken from CCTV harvested from Dublin City Council which showed the accused and his brother having an altercation with the injured party.
After some time they went to the first level of the housing complex where they armed themselves with a pole and a stick before going back upstairs and assaulting their uncle.
Garda Halpin agreed that it was difficult to say from the CCTV exactly who struck which blow, but that the accused had used the pole with his brother using a stick while the injured party used the stick of a broom in efforts to defend himself.
The two assailants were identified by Gardaí from a description and arrested while wet and muddy due to the heavy rain on the day. The accused had an injury to his hand which is believed to have been sustained in the course of assaulting the victim.
Reddy’s brother was separately dealt with by the children’s court.
The court heard that the dispute which led to the assault of Paul McMahon Jr. arose in circumstances where the assailants’s grandfather, Paul McMahon Snr. and their mother, Michelle McMahon had been involved in an altercation over money at a Tesco Express.
Reddy has seven previous convictions from the District Court which include instances of possession of drugs and threatening and abusive behavior which were dealt with by fines.
His Defending counsel said that the accused was using drugs at the time but that he has turned his life around.
Garda Halpin said that he was “always very pleasant” to deal with and that he “looks a lot better now”.
Reddy’s defence said that the assault was a “familial incident” that had evolved out of “a stupid row” and that the family have “let bygones be bygones” .
She said that her client had a “difficult upbringing” and was exposed to his own parents’ drug abuse from a young age, but was now a “very good father” to his own child he shares with his partner who came to court to support him.
Judge Orla Crowe said that during the incident Reddy and his brother were “clearly the aggressors” and that the victim had received hospital treatment after he was struck with the pole and stick after the assailaints had “armed themselves”.
Noting that Reddy has “turned his life around” after suffering with a “serious drug addiction” and that his child has medical difficulties she set a headline sentence of four months before sentencing Reddy to three months in jail suspended on condition that he be of good behaviour for a period of twelve months and ender into bond of 100 euro.