Three men on Offaly violent disorder charges back before judge

THREE young men accused of violent disorder following an incident in Birr in August last year were back in court recently.

Ronan Bergin (20), Syngfield, Birr; Joseph Boyd (20), Neidin, Hollypark, Birr and Riann McLoughlin (21), Woodlands Close, Birr appeared before Judge Andrew Cody at Tullamore District Court.

They had been remanded on continuing bail for probation reports and the payment of compensation after coming before the judge in April where they faced charges of violent disorder at O'Connell Street, Birr on August 1, 2022.

Judge Cody was told that Mr Bergin, described by his solicitor as a trainee teacher, had attended a restorative justice programme and engaged with anger management.

Having read a report, Judge Cody said Mr Bergin had done very well since the previous day in court and in addition to engaging with restorative justice he had paid compensation and done more than 20 hours of community service with Birr Town Football Club where he was continuing to volunteer.

“He's done everything he should have done, and done it well,” said the judge, who noted that a cheque for €5,000 was going to be reissued for the injured party in the case.

He applied the Probation Act in light of the “positive engagement” of the accused, who had no previous convictions.

The second defendant to be considered was Mr Boyd and his solicitor, Donal Farrelly, said the sum of money indicated by the court had been paid.

A veterinary student, Mr Boyd had no previous convictions, had never been in trouble before and was very sorry for what he had done.

Despite “valiant” efforts on his part, he had yet to see a probation officer and Mr Farrelly also pointed to recommendations for his client from various parties, including the Birr senior hurling manager.

Judge Cody referred Mr Boyd to the probation service to engage with the restorative justice programme and remanded him on continuing bail to December 20 next.

The third accused man, Mr McLoughlin, had paid money and had engaged with the probation service “to some degree”, his solicitor Patrick Martin told the court.

Judge Cody said Mr McLoughlin had attended only one of four appointments with the probation service because he had been “too busy”.

“He's the complete and direct opposite to the first gentleman,” remarked the judge.

Mr Martin said his client's financial circumstances were very limited but he had managed to pay the money required and doing that put him in a position where he must work as much as he could, from 7am to 4pm and often later.

Judge Cody said Mr McLoughlin had been “texting at the last minute” saying he was too busy to go to the probation service and asked how many days of holidays he had since April.

When Mr Martin said his client had no holidays the judge said asked how he was supposed to believe that he hadn't even one day off and commented that Mr McLoughlin “couldn't be bothered” even though it had been a very serious incident he was involved in.

Mr Martin said he had highlighted the contents of a report to his client and explained that in relation to community service, Mr McLoughlin was more than willing to do it but garda vetting was required and that would take a number of months.

Judge Cody sentenced Mr McLoughlin to three months in prison but suspended the sentence for three years on the accused's own bond of €100.