Paul Fitzgerald of 19 Cooleens Close received an 18 month suspended sentence for assault following the incident with the Buck family.
During todays hearing at Clonmel Circuit Court Paul Fitzgerald pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and producing a weapon, namely an axe, during the course of an altercation with his neighbours the Bucks.
The court heard the row started at 24 Cooleens Close, the home of Bridget and Ian Buck on the 8th of September last year. It followed a verbal altercation the previous day when Joseph Buck was intoxicated sitting on Mr Fitzgerald’s wall.
Giving evidence Garda Pat O’Gorman of Clonmel Garda station said the row on September 8th between Joseph Buck and the accused started on the lawn but then escalated when Mr Fitzgerald forced his way into the Buck home armed with a piece of wood knocking Eamon Buck to the ground in the process.
The 44 year old then picked up a steel axe when inside the Buck home and swung it at Joseph Buck but Mr Fitzgerald’s own son Jonathan – who’d attempted to stop his father several times – managed to disarm him.
In sentencing Judge Tom Teehan took into account the fear the Bucks were put under to ring Gardai as it wasn’t something the family would normally do. He also noted Mr Fitzgerald had 19 previous convictions but that the last was over a decade ago.
In mitigation he took the early guilty plea into account and the fact that there’s peace between the neighbours now, they exchange pleasantries and get on. The Bucks also didn’t want to give a victim impact statement.
Judge Teehan sentenced Paul Fitzgerald to 18 months for assault and 3 months on the weapons charges – both to run concurrently – and suspended them for 18 months.
