Cousins avoid conviction after ‘large-scale altercation’ at Pint Depot
Carlow Courthouse
TWO cousins who became involved in a “large-scale altercation” at a Bagenalstown pub, during which a bartender was hospitalised after trying to break up the fight, have avoided criminal convictions after Judge Geraldine Carthy accepted donations to the court poor box.
Hugh Gahan (35), Townasock, Old Leighlin, Carlow and his cousin Sean Carpenter (32), Raheen, Old Leighlin, Carlow appeared before Carlow District Court in connection with the incident, which occurred at The Pint Depot in Bagenalstown at midnight on 18 June 2022.
The court heard that gardaí were alerted to an incident of a violent nature at the premises, where a bartender was taken to hospital after attempting to break up an altercation between two men. The court was told the bartender was “unwilling to make a report about his injuries”.
CCTV footage from the pub showed a large-scale altercation involving multiple people, with those involved throwing punches at each other. Mr Gahan and Mr Carpenter were identified from the footage and were subsequently arrested.
Neither man had any previous convictions nor made any comment during garda interviews, a position their solicitor said was taken on legal advice.
The solicitor, who knows both defendants personally, told the court that four other individuals involved in the altercation had elected to go forward to the circuit court, adding: “We’re not doing that.”
He asked Judge Carthy to consider character references submitted on behalf of both men, telling the court: “I can tell you, these gentlemen, they won’t be back in this position. They have both been put through the ringer by their family and me.”
He said, “I’m in your hands”, adding that he would assist the court in reaching an outcome that would allow his clients “to leave the building in the same position as they entered”.
Judge Carthy asked whether footage of the incident could be made available over the lunch break or whether that was “too much pressure”. The solicitor confirmed he had reviewed the footage himself, describing it as “at best, shockingly grim”.
Asked by the judge what had started the altercation, the solicitor shook his head and said the other four individuals involved were “from a different ethnic background and are known to each other, but not these two”. He noted that, according to the footage, the altercation had lasted only one minute.
Following the lunch break, Judge Carthy noted the guilty pleas entered and observed that the “level of fracas lasted less than one minute”.
She said the absence of previous convictions went to the mitigation of both men and she accepted that they had demonstrated “true remorse”, adding that she was “somewhat satisfied they will not appear before court again”.
Having considered the facts of the case, along with the character references submitted, Judge Carthy said she would accept a donation to the court poor box in lieu of conviction, directing that Mr Gahan and Mr Carpenter each pay €2,500. “Once this is paid, I will be satisfied to apply the ,” she said.
