Midlands man (72) hit with suspended sentence and hefty fine for landing punch on neighbour

A Midlands man aged 72 received a four-month suspended sentence and was fined €1,000 for assaulting an elderly neighbour.

Tullamore District Court heard that Donal Fogarty, Castletown, Ballycumber, climbed up a tractor and punched Joe Lowry before driving off in his car.

David Nugent, BL, entered a plea of guilty to the assault which took place at Castletown, The Island, Ballycumber on August 15 last year.

Sergeant Richard Thornton told Judge Andrew Cody that Mr Fogarty had 21 previous convictions dating back to 2009.

Mr Nugent said the offending resulted from a bad neighbourly dispute where Mr Fogarty believed the tractor was blocking an entrance.

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When Judge Cody asked Mr Nugent where the “tangible expression of remorse” was from the accused, the barrister said he would have a conversation with the man.

Mr Nugent subsequently told the court that €1,500 was available and that was the maximum Mr Fogarty could raise.

Judge Cody adjourned finalisation of the case for a victim impact statement and when the matter was recalled Mr Nugent said the compensation had been handed over.

There had been no trouble since the offence, defence counsel added, saying his client had moved on from it and he hoped Mr Lowry could too.

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Judge Cody suspended the four-month sentence for three years.