Laois Offaly judge says St Patrick's Day pub row was "terryfying"

A MASS brawl broke out in a pub in Kilcormac on St Patrick's Day last year when words were exchanged between two men in the pool room.

CCTV footage recorded in Gracelands, Main Street, was played at Tullamore District Court which Laois Offaly District Court Judge Andrew Cody described the melee as “terrifying”.

The court heard how the licensees, mother and daughter Helen and Antoinette Clarke, were both assaulted after they intervened to break up the row.

Up to nine gardai were subsequently called and on Wednesday six men pleaded guilty to charges arising from the incident.

Judge Cody was told that a pool cue was used at the beginning of the dispute and pool balls were then taken from a table and used as weapons, along with drinking glasses and a chair being thrown.

Ryan Hannon (19), Frankford, Kilcormac admitted three counts of assault, a count of violent disorder and producing an article in a dispute.

His cousin Aaron Hannon (22), Ballycollin Upper, Kilcormac pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

Michael McCarthy Junior (24), Meadowlands, Kilcormac admitted three counts of producing articles during a fight or dispute and a count of violent disorder.

His father, Michael McCarthy (53), The Meelahans, Tullamore pleaded guilty to two counts of violent disorder and one of producing an article.

Patrick McDonagh (33), Meadowlands, Kilcormac and Harley Dalzell (25), St Cormac's Park, Kilcormac admitted violent disorder.

Sergeant Richard Thornton detailed that on the evening of March 17 last year at Gracelands pub Ryan Hannon was playing pool in the pool room when he was approached by Michael McCarthy Junior.

Words were exchanged between both parties and Ryan Hannon struck out at Michael McCarthy Junior with his fist and a pool cue.

A large scale public order incident then took place in the pool room where a number of persons were present.

Sergeant Thornton said the licensee Helen Clarke and her daughter Antoinette were assaulted and made statements of complaint and gardai had to be requested from Tullamore, Birr and Portlaoise.

Helen Clarke provided a statement saying she saw Ryan Hannon and “the McCarthy chap” fighting when she was removing glasses from the pool room.

Sergeant Thornton said Ryan Hannon came through a door with no shirt on and pushed Helen Clarke into the stomach, knocking her to the ground.

In her statement Antoinette Clarke said she saw two men fighting and a load of people around them, including “Ryan Hannon and the McCarthy chap”.

She tried to separate those two and was pushed by Ryan Hannon into a pillar. Antoinette Clarke saw Ryan Hannon knock her mother to the ground and also saw Harley Dalzell fighting with another guy and when Antoinette Clarke tried to get Ryan Hannon out a second time he pushed her in the chest area.

The court heard CCTV footage showed Ryan Hannon playing pool and after a conversation with Michael McCarthy Junior he hit him with a pool cue, resulting in McCarthy Junior falling to the ground.

Aaron Hannon and Patrick McDonagh got involved in a fight and they were separated by Antoinette Clarke.

The court was also told that Patrick McDonagh went to the pool table, got two pool balls and returned to fight with the balls in his hand.

The footage also showed Michael McCarthy Junior starting to throw glasses and Harley Dalzell attempting to stop him.

Michael McCarthy tried to stop his son but then starts throwing pool balls in the direction of Ryan Hannon.

As the brawl continued, Aaron Hannon and McCarthy Senior started fighting, Michael McCarthy Junior started throwing pool balls in the direction of Ryan Hannon and Ryan Hannon came back with a pool cue.

When Antoinette Clarke tried to remove the pool cue from Ryan Hannon he pushed her and when Ryan Hannon tried to go at Michael McCarthy Junior he was pulled away by Harley Dalzell but a tussle then started between Dalzell and Ryan Hannon.

At one point the McCarthys left the pool room and Ryan Hannon was taken to the smoking area but Hannon returned and at the door pushed Helen Clarke to the ground.

Ryan Hannon and Harley Dalzell started pushing each other and another individual when attempted to separate them was pulled and punched by Dalzell.

Sergeant Thornton said that neither of the Hannons had previous convictions and while Michael McCarthy Junior had two, one was for having no motor tax and the other for no insurance.

Patrick McDonagh had 34 previous convictions, including one for a breach of the peace datnig from April 2021.

Michael McCarthy has 25 previous convictions, most recently for a road traffic offence but his last public order conviction was in July 2012.

Harley Dalzell had three previous convictions, including threatening to cause criminal damage and a breach of the peace dating from May 2022.

Judge Cody viewed two CCTV recordings, one from a camera at the back of the pool room and another from a different angle.

As the first one, which showed the time to be 8.13pm, was being played he remarked: “There's a lot going on.”

He noted he could see “a lady in a wheelchair enjoying her night out”.

“And this is what she has to put up with. I'm sure she was terrified,” he said.

The judge also said he could see a young man picking up three or four pool balls and throwing them at point blank range, perhaps from four to five feet.

“It's lucky nobody was killed,” he said.

The footage depicted the brawl continuing with people pushing and moving around the pool table, along with another pool table beside it.

People could be seen leaving the area around where the fight was taking place.

Judge Cody praised the Clarke women for trying to break up the fight and said the incident was “shocking” with people having to huddle together after “minding their own business on a night out in a pub on Paddy's Day”.

The footage from the other camera showed a man swinging a pool cue at another man after they spoke to each other at the pool table.

“This a very serious incident in my view,” said Judge Cody, stating that he would give himself more time to consider his sentences.

Ryan Hannon and Aaron Hannon were represented by Aisling Maloney, solicitor, who said Ryan had a previous disagreement with Michael McCarthy Junior and that did spill over into the night.

Ryan Hannon was putting up his hands and fully accepted what he had done had set things in motion.

In an interview with gardai he was very honest and said he lost the head and couldn't remember much after that because he “kind of blacked out”.

He suffered from seizures and was on medication for that and he now realised that did not mix well with alcohol and he had stayed away from pubs since.

The next morning he tried to contact the two ladies to apologise and at the time they didn't want to accept apologies “which was understandable” and he wrote letters of apology which were available to be handed into court.

Ms Maloney said a bill had been sent from the pub to James Hannon, father of the accused, and he was prepared to pay it.

Though Ryan Hannon was in financial difficulty, and the father of a baby, he had come to court with €500.

He was being educated with Youth Reach, was seeking counselling and treatment for anger management and had a character reference from Clonmore Riverside Football Club.

Ms Malone said that Aaron Hannon had initially become involved “by way of a peacekeeping mission” and tried to calm things down before receiving an injury himself.

A trainee teacher, he was doing his finals and thesis for a Bachelor of Science and planned to go on to do a master's and become a qualified secondary teacher.

He brought €200 to court even though he was of limited means and Ms Malone said he would be concerned about the effect a conviction would have on his teaching career. The solicitor handed in in a letter to the judge outlining that concern.

Judge Cody responded: “He should have thought of that before he started picking up pool balls and pool cues a year ago.”

Ms Malone said her client deeply regretted what he had done. He was on good terms with the licence holders of the pub and would add more compensation given time.

Patrick Martin, solicitor, represented the other court accused and he said they had not instigated what he called a “chaotic” matter on the night.

Harley Dalzell had been just playing pool at the next table and tried to stop the fight himself and then got involved when he was hit. He was in full time employment as a plumber.

Patrick McDonagh had tried to break up the fight. He was a father of four children of his own and also cared for two others.

He apologised for what he had done and none of Mr Martin's four clients thought their behaviour was appropriate.

The solicitor said Michael McCarthy Junior had two children and his partner was expecting another.

A man with mental health issues, he had been through a period of homelessness and was currently in a trailer but will be moving to Athlone to a house.

Mr McCarthy Senior arrived into the incident quite late and was trying to protect his son, said Mr Martin.

Asked if there would be any compensation for the two ladies, who had been assaulted and had property damaged, Mr Martin said his clients would need time because they were of limited means.

However, if a reasonable sum was suggested by the court, efforts would be made to gather it.

Judge Cody replied: “I'm looking at prison sentences here, you persuade me otherwise.”

He said Ryan Hannon and Michael McCarthy Junior, to a slightly lesser extent, were the main culprits.

“This a very serious incident. People were terrorised on Paddy's Day on a night out,” he said.

He said people, including women, were huddled together in a corner, terrified, and others were throwing billiard balls at one another.

“A shocking incident. I don't think they've copped on yet how serious it is.”

Mr Martin said further compensation would be paid and when Mr Martin mentioned two amounts of €300 each within two months the judge said: “That's not at the level I was thinking about.”

Ms Maloney said her clients would gather more for the court and the €700 they had brought was handed in.

Judge Cody ordered that it be donated to the Kilcormac Tidy Towns committee.

Sentencing the men, Judge Cody said that having started the fight and the resulting melee Ryan Hannon had participated fully and also “came back in with his shirt off and assaulted the licence holder”.

Because he had no previous convictions he gave him a suspended sentence of six months for assaulting Helen Clarke, along with a similar sentence for assaulting her daughter, and a four-month suspended sentence for assaulting Michael McCarthy Junior.

A charge of using a chair during the fight was taken into consideration, as was the charge of violent disorder.

Judge Cody noted that Michael McCarthy Junior only had two road traffic convictions but said he was lucky not to be getting a custodial sentence.

He had not thrown the first punch so he gave him concurrent two-month suspended sentences for violent disorder, throwing drinking glasses and throwing a ball.

His father had, according to the judge, “got stuck in and was part of the melee” though at he seemed to get some sensibility and tried to stop it.

He received a two-month suspended sentence for violent disorder and a similar concurrent sentence for producing the pool balls during the dispute.

Patrick McDonagh was also involved to a lesser extent but had 34 previous convictions, including for public order offences.

“Whilst he wasn't involved hugely he should have stepped back and not got involved.” He received two one-month suspended sentences.

He imposed a fine of €500 on Harley Dalzell, saying he likewise should have stepped back altogether rather than get involved.

Judge Cody deal with Aaron Hannon last. He described him as a young man who hoped to teach but would be aware that he would need garda vetting if he was ever going to work in a school.

A conviction for violent disorder would “drag behind you like a ball and chain for the rest of your life”, he told Mr Hannon, asking him what he could to persuade the court not to convict him.

Ms Maloney said Aaron Hannon had attempted to apologise to the two women and said he was a man who had difficulties in life and whose mother had been bedbound for many years.

He would be the first in his family to go to third level education and was viewed as a mentor by Ryan Hannon. He had made a three-hour trip from college to get to court.

Judge Cody said he admired what Mr Hannon had done for himself and to overcome those challenges and go to college and plan to become a teacher was a great achievement.

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However, he should have stepped back “despite the red mist” but the court still believed he had the potential to be a great role model.

He gave him an opportunity until October 25 next to demonstrate how he could be such a role model, adjourning sentence for a probation and restorative justice report. The court would then consider not convicting the man.