A DISTRICT court judge in West Cork has refused to accept a plea to a lesser assault charge, claiming that the accused ‘lacks insight’.
The case against Michael O’Regan (54) of 38 Mariner’s Cove, Baltimore, was partly heard at Skibbereen District Court on February 25th, and then adjourned to May 27th next.
Initially, Ms Vicki Buckley, solicitor, informed Judge John King that her client – who has no previous convictions – was pleading guilty to assaulting David Kelly at Jacob’s Bar on May 12th last.
She said he was offering a plea to a Section 2 offence, which is otherwise known as ‘common assault,’ and that this had been agreed with the prosecution.
Originally, the State had sought to prosecute the accused on a Section 3 charge of an assault ‘causing harm’ but they subsequently agreed to the reduced charge.
However, it was only after reading a medical report and viewing photographs which showed the bruising to the injured man’s neck, that Judge King refused to accept a plea on the lesser charge.
Judge King halted proceedings, saying: ‘I can’t see how I can reduce this to a Section 2, because there is very definite harm.’
The judge asked the solicitor to ask her client if he wanted to enter a plea to the more serious charge, or if he wanted to fix another date for a hearing.
After a short recess, Ms Buckley said Michael O’Regan would plead guilty to the more serious Section 3 charge and would be prepared to compensate the injured party to cover his €605 medical and prescription expenses.
Insp Roisin O’Dea, who had already begun to outline the facts of the case, said Gda Mark Curtis received a report at about 6pm on May 12th last alleging that Michael O’Regan had assaulted David Kelly at the urinals at Jacob’s Bar in Baltimore.
She said that it was alleged that the men had ‘history’ over a woman, who no longer lives in the area, and she handed in to the court the doctor’s report and photographs of the injuries sustained by David Kelly.
David Kelly had already begun to give his evidence, before Judge King indicated that he did not want to continue with the case until a probation officer’s report was done and considered by him.
He said a probation officer’s report was necessary because he wasn’t satisfied that the accused had a full insight into the seriousness of the charge, as well as the manner in which the accused was approaching the prosecution.
Meanwhile, in his victim impact statement, David Kelly said he had been ‘choked’ and went to the doctor the following morning. He said the incident had led to panic attacks and having ‘no power’ in his voice for about 10 days to two weeks.
He said a lot of the pain and bruising was to his neck and throat and that he attended a GP, a chiropractor, and had some counselling sessions, as well as getting a prescription for Xanax.
When Judge King put a stop to the proceedings, the accused’s solicitor reminded the court that her client has no previous convictions, and was willing to meet his obligations.
But it was at that stage that Insp O’Dea pointed out that Michael O’Regan had previously received an adult caution ‘in respect of the same gentleman in October 2022’ which involved ‘a slap to the head.’
Judge King noted that the medical report referred to ‘a strangulation-type situation’ and he then opted to adjourn the case to the May 27th sitting of Skibbereen District Court.
‘I am not going to make any commitment until I see the probation report, but I will also expect the production of compensation on that date,’ he stated.
