A BANDON man has been sentenced to six months in prison for a ‘savage and unprovoked’ assault with other youths on an innocent man along a riverwalk last year.
Collins Odafan Ewanisha of 62 Deerpark, Bandon pleaded guilty to assault, violent disorder, and criminal damage at Bandon District Court.
Sgt Tom Mulcahy told the court that at 4.20pm on August 8th 2022, Arvydas Taskunas called to Bandon Garda Station in a distressed state and was visibly injured.
‘He said he was assaulted by a number of youths at Riverwalk earlier.
He needed immediate medical attention and was taken to CUH where he received five staples to a wound on the back of his head,’ said Sgt Mulcahy.
Following his complaint, gardaí made further enquiries and CCTV was harvested. Mr Ewanisha was identified as a suspect to the assault and violent disorder.
‘Gardaí obtained a search warrant for his home and they seized clothes and an iPad which contained Snapchat images on it showing him talking about the assault.’
He was arrested and while being interviewed he made certain admissions in relation to his involvement in the assault and violent disorder.
‘CCTV shows him engaged in a verbal altercation with Mr Taskunas and both were not known to each other.’
The following month on September 27th, gardaí received a report of youths causing a disturbance in the Riverview Shopping Centre.
Three males are seen on CCTV play fighting and they continue to do so out in the car park.
They took bollards and used them as weapons hitting each other. The bollards were then left discarded across the car park, while two of the youths including Mr Ewanisha were identified.
His solicitor Eamonn Fleming noted that a probation report had been handed into Judge James McNulty but that despite engaging with the probation officer to a certain extent, his client was still coming to the attention of gardaí. He said he also failed to turn up for scheduled appointments with the probation officer.
Mr Fleming said that no one was injured in relation the bollards incident and the damage came to €50.
‘With regard to the assault charge, there were approximately four or five parties involved.
‘My client was 19 at the time and he was mixing with bad company and has a bad relationship with both his parents,’ said Mr Fleming.
Judge James McNulty remarked that it must be ‘a lot of fun’ for the defendant’s parents.
He described it as a ‘savage unprovoked serious assault on an innocent man causing him injuries’.
‘The defendant is an adult now and his probation report is not good and he’s unwilling to listen and learn and this unprovoked assault warrants a custodial sentence.’
The judge also noted that there was no expression of remorse or an apology from the defendant.
He sentenced him to six months in prison on the assault and violent disorder charges, with the sentences to run concurrently.
He also convicted and fined him €500 on the criminal damage charges and gave him 12 months to pay the fine.
Recognisances in the event of an appeal were fixed in the defendant’s own bond of €100 with no cash required and the judge also sought a surety of €3,000, with a third of that to be provided in cash and said conditions will be attached to any release on bail.
