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NEWS
Dungarvan Observer | Friday, 4 December, 2015
A n C h ú i r t C h u a rd a …
Wa t e r f o r d C i r c u i t C o u r t
Probation Act for woman who used stiletto boot in assault A COUNTY Waterford woman suffered a laceration requiring five stitches to the crown of her head when she was struck with a stiletto boot during a late night row outside a night club in Dungarvan, the Circuit Criminal Court heard last week. Mother of two Kenya McCarthy (23) of Cluain na Greine, Abbeyside, Dungarvan, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Dawn Tutty at Davitt’s Quay, Dungarvan, on June 29, 2014. The incident occurred when the defendant’s partner attacked Ms. Tutty’s boyfriend. The defendant, who had some drink taken and was carrying her boots, intervened and hit the injured party on the head with the heal of her stiletto boot. The injured party bore no ill will towards her attacker and declined to make a victim impact statement to the Gardai. The court heard that the defendant was arrested and co-operated with the Gardai and made a voluntary statement of admission and indicated an early guilty plea. She had no previous convictions and was remorseful and sent a written apology to the injured woman. Barrister Jamie Burke, instructed by Martin Lavan, solr., defending, said his client had a good background to her early life and accepted full responsibility for the assault. She was coping with responsibility at a young age and deeply regretted her action. It was an isolated incident and there were no serious consequences.
It occurred around the time of the birth of her second child and she now had a lot of support from her mother and her partner. She was deemed by the probation services to be at low risk of re-offending and was now back in full time education training to be a beautician. Judge Eugene O’Kelly said it was an unfortunate case. The defendant became involved in a fracas that was not of her own making and in a misguided attempt to extricate her boyfriend from the row, which was of his making, she became involved for some foolish reason. Her boyfriend appeared to be inebriated. The matter was aggravated in that she used a weapon, a stiletto that was a number of inches long, which was a sharp object and caused a laceration that necessitated a number of stitches.The defendant was ashamed of her action and gave a full apology to the victims who seemed to be exceedingly generous and was not looking for a “pound of flesh” and was anxious that the matter was finalised without any further distress. The Judge said he was pleased that the defendant’s boyfriend was now more responsible and she had greater support. There was no benefit in imposing a custodial sentence and he applied the Probation Act. The Judge said he suspected that the District Court Judge felt obliged to decline jurisdiction in the case because of the use of a weapon and did not hear the full circumstances.
Frank Hutchinson, State Solicitor; Mary Hutchinson, Judge Terence Finn, Frances Finn, Judge Tom Teehan, Helen Teehan, Judge Kevin Staunton, Valerie Staunton, Gabrielle Walsh & Nicholas Walsh, President, Waterford Law Society, at the Waterford Law Society Annual Dinner in Waterford Castle on Friday, November 20th, 2015. [Garrett FitzGerald Photography]
Community service being considered for woman who made false rape allegation A COUNTY Waterford woman made a false complaint to the Gardai that she had been raped in her home by a foreign national, the Circuit Criminal Court heard in Waterford, last week. The innocent man was 21 years of age at that time and was arrested in Dublin and detained and questioned by the Gardai for three and a half hours. The woman withdrew her false allegation of rape nine days later. Mother of two Samantha Veale (23) with an address at Leacan Fionn, Dungarvan, pleaded guilty to knowingly making a false statement to Dungarvan Gardai that she had been raped on two occasions by the man. Judge Eugene O’Kelly said the alleged perpetrator was entirely innocent and was arrested and deprived of his liberty and subjected to questioning and had to endure the worry of a very serious offence that would be very difficult to disprove. The court was told that the woman went to the Garda Station in the company of her ex-boyfriend on March 14, 2013 and made the allegations of sex-
ual assault against the man. She alleged they spent a Sunday evening together before going back to her house and they ended up in bed. It was alleged that he held her down and forced himself on her on two occasions that night and the following morning. The Gardai launched an investigation arising from the complaint and the man was arrested by appointment in Dublin.Two members of the Gardai interviewed him for three and a half hours. He totally denied the allegations that were made against him. The woman later made a second statement to the Gardai in Clonakilty, Co. Cork, withdrawing her allegations. She confirmed that there had been consensual sex and said she had been prevailed upon to correct the situation and withdraw her allegation. The man was aware of the court hearing but did not want to be present and he declined to make a victim impact statement. He did not want to cause any further distress. Barrister Derek Donnelly, for the defendant, said following a conversation with her ex-part-
ner and his current girl friend, the woman felt pressurised to make the false statement to the Gardai and did not want to “let them down”. But she did not want the innocent man to go to prison for something he did not do. She telephoned her ex-partner and said she was going to withdraw her complaint. He advised her not to withdraw her statement. The woman was an individual who was “easily led” and was naïve and did not understand the consequences of her action. This explained why she was in the situation that she now found herself in. She was a very vulnerable person who made a mistake. After she withdrew her complaint she fully co-operated with the Gardai and made full admission of guilt. The expartner’s current girlfriend also made a similar false statement of complaint to the Gardai but no prosecution followed. Mr. Donnelly said it was an extremely serious matter. The woman was the eldest of three siblings and her parents had separated in disharmony. She had a
chaotic and unstable upbringing and became a parent at the age of 16 years. She depended on her family for financial support. Appealing for leniency, he said that she pleading guilty at an early stage and saved the injured party from facing a trial. She was the full time carer of her child. Judge O’Kelly said the allegation was a very serious matter for the victim. The woman knowingly made a false statement which effectively meant she had been raped. This was a most serious offence, which carried a maximum prison sentence of five years in prison, because of the nature of making a false statement alleging the most serious crime against a man. This offence was aggravated by the fact the woman knew that the allegation of rape would have subjected the victim to the outcome of a jury trial in the Central Criminal Court. It was further aggravated because it undermined the confidence of genuine rape victims. It was an offence not only against the victim in this case but also against all genuine vic-
tims of rape and it was done for no better reason than this lady’s former boyfriend appeared to have requested that she did so. The harm done to the victim was significantly mitigated by the woman’s retraction and there was genuine remorse and she did not want him to go to prison for something he did not do, said the Judge. The woman may have been manipulated by the former boyfriend. The picture emerging from medical reports was one of somebody with no psychiatric disorder but a person who was vulnerable and did not have a stable upbringing and spent time in care. A custodial sentence was not appropriate in this case and the court gave her an opportunity to give something back to society by imposing 180 hours of community service, if she was found to be suitable. The case was adjourned for finalisation on December 8 next. An order was made prohibiting the publication of the name and address of the innocent man because it would compound what he had already been through.