He has 30 previous convictions and Sergeant Paul Costelloe told the court that Sweeney is known to the local gardaí in Clondalkin.
Man jailed for assault that left clamper profoundly disabled 28/10/2011 - 18:21:41 A Clondalkin man who left a clamper with severe neurological damage after he struck his head with a lump hammer has been sentenced to 10 years with the final three suspended. Gheorghe Pista was clamping Gerard Sweeney’s girlfriend’s car when Sweeney approached him shouting and swearing that he was not going to pay the fine. He then went to the boot of the car, took out a lump hammer, came back to the front of the vehicle where Mr Pista and his colleague were, and struck him on the left side of his head knocking the man to the ground. Mr Pista’s sustained a fractured skull and later had to have a metal plate inserted. He was in a coma for seven weeks and a medical report before the court stated that he is now profoundly disabled. He can only verbalise a few words and needs assistance to walk. He requires 24 hour care which is provided by his sister and her partner. Mr Pista’s elderly parents and 10-year-old daughter live in his native country of Romania and he has seen very little of them since the attack. Mr Pista’s cousin, Dana, read a victim impact statement on behalf of the family, which had been prepared by Gheorghe’s sister. She said that her cousin has gone from “being a strong man to being a fragile child”. “He can’t eat alone, shower alone, dress alone, he can barely walk. Today he is not even able to hug his little girl,” Ms Pista said. “Why did this happen to someone who is just doing their job?” she asked. “We hope that justice will be done today in this horrible case.” She said that Mr Pista will always be dependant on someone else for 24-hour care. “He is upset and cries a lot. He is embarrassed to do all the things he has to do with his sister. He is frustrated and angry and misses his daughter who lives in Romania. His parents are in their seventies and can’t come over to visit him,” Ms Pista said. Sweeney (aged 25) with addresses at St Mark’s Avenue and High Grove, Mount Talbot, both in Clondalkin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Mr Pista (aged 38) in Werburgh Street, Dublin 8 on October 14, 2009. He has 30 previous convictions and Sergeant Paul Costelloe told the court that Sweeney is known to the local gardaí in Clondalkin. Judge Martin Nolan said the facts of the case were “simple and tragic”. “In a fit of temper he took out a lump hammer and struck the victim on the head,” he said. He said the “profound injuries” the “unfortunate” Mr Pista suffered were inevitable. “The use of such a savage weapon, when you think of the fragility of the skull”. “I have used such a tool in the past and today I weighed it in my hand, (when it was presented as an exhibit in the hearing) to reacquaint myself with it. It is an incredibly heavy hammer used in the building industry for crushing stones and splitting bricks. Apply that to any part of the body and it seems inevitable serious injuries would be expected,” Judge Nolan said. He accepted that Sweeney had his difficulties in the past but added: “like a lot of people”. “He has a bad temper, like a lot of people, but everyone has to control their temper and he failed miserably on the day in question,” the judge said. Sgt Costelloe told Mr Paul Carroll BL, prosecuting, that Mr Pista is a Romanian national, but is now an Irish citizen. He had been working as a clamper for a number of years. On the night in question he was working with a colleague and noticed that five vehicles were parked illegally in a carpark on Werburgh Street. Sgt Costelloe said Mr Pista has no recollection of the attack but his colleague told gardai that they were taking details and photos of the vehicles in question when Sweeney approached them. After the attack, Sweeney ran away but his girlfriend remained at the scene. She later told gardai; “Ger is a hot head but I never saw him react like that”. Sgt Costelloe said the lump hammer was recovered 100 meters away from the assault and presented the weapon to Judge Nolan in court. He said Sweeney called him the following day and later came voluntarily to the garda station where he was arrested. His subsequent interviews were “not of evidential value”. Sgt Costelloe agreed with Mr Remy Farrell SC, defending, that Sweeney struck one blow. He agreed that when he first phoned him, Sweeney told the sergeant he wanted to come in and tell him everything, “to get it off my chest” but that he later got legal advice and replied “no comment” during questioning. Sgt Costelloe further agreed that there was a civil case pending. Mr Farrell said his client and his family want to offer their sincere apologies to Mr Pista and his family. He said Sweeney had €19,000 in court as a token of his remorse but the court was later informed that the Pista family did not want to accept the money. He said Sweeney has since held a number of fundraising boxing events and donated the resulting proceeds to the Central Remedial Clinic. Mr Farrell told Judge Nolan that his client has since attended counselling for anger management.
A COUPLE with six children have avoided a jail term for taking part in a vicious and unprovoked assault on an army sergeant and his wife. The victim told the court that he had never seen or experienced such violence before -- not even when he was in the Lebanon or during the Troubles in an army career spanning three decades. Wesley Condon (34), of Blackditch Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin, pleaded guilty to two charges of assault causing harm to Christopher Mahon and his wife Rose Mahon at the Ballyfermot Road on May 1, 2010. His partner Michelle Kelly (38) pleaded guilty to assault causing harm of Rose Mahon during the same incident. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the victims, who are in their 50s, were on their way home from a night out when they were set upon by the attackers and kicked and punched as they lay on the ground. Mr Mahon, who has served in the Irish Defence Forces for 31 years, read an emotionally charged victim impact statement saying he had never witnessed such an attack before, despite serving during the Troubles and in Lebanon. Garda John Griffin told Roisin Lacey BL, prosecuting, that the couple were on their way home at around 2am when they heard Kelly, Condon and a third man shouting abuse and gesturing at them from across the road. Mr Mahon agreed with his wife to ignore them and keep walking. After the group got into a taxi Mr Mahon approached them and asked them why they were saying things about his wife. Mr Mahon told gardai that the next thing he knew he was on the ground and receiving "kicks and digs" in the head and ribs. He kept trying to get up but was unable to because of the blows "raining" down on him. He looked across to his wife and saw she was on the ground and that Michelle Kelly was kicking her in the face. He then saw Condon kicking his wife and punching her in the head. Scarred After the attackers walked away, Mr Mahon crawled over to his wife and picked her up and hailed a taxi. The court heard that he was anxious because he saw Condon turning back to them. Condon then stood in the middle of the road and tried, but failed, to stop the taxi moving off. In his victim impact statement, Mr Mahon said the attack had left him and his wife "scarred to this day". Watching his wife being punched and kicked with "so much ferocity" while he lay on the ground unable to get to her would haunt him for the rest of his life, Mr Mahon said. The judge said he was taking into consideration the attackers' guilty pleas, their remorse and good character and their family circumstances and suspended a sentence of three years for each of them. - Declan Brennan
joshrogan wrote: » Should just put these type of people down like the animals they are.
Hal Emmerich wrote: » Who is worse the Judge or the Scumbag that ran off after hitting the clamper?? Poor Man needs 24hr Care provided by his sister, a 10 year old daughter and 70year old Parents back in Romania.Is their a way to see other cases presided over by this Judge??
"Mr Pista’s cousin, Dana, read a victim impact statement on behalf of the family, which had been prepared by Gheorghe’s sister."
Saila wrote: » I dont care if the scumbag is someone's son and all that bollox, jail and daily buggering with a hammer for you for life, then release him early and have another inmate kill him on the way to his freedom after he has served 20 years :mad: gives scum a bad name
woodoo wrote: » A scumbag like this Sweeney guy will be back on the streets by 2015 assaulting people and creating mayhem all over again.
Hal Emmerich wrote: » That would be to kind. In Iran the Victim gets to do the same back to the attacker.
pudzey101 wrote: » Stuff like this wants the death penatly introduced:)
nicechick! wrote: » Hopefully not the article did mention he'd been for counselling for his anger management issues had also being fundraising for Central Remedial Clinic a little to late perhaps maybe this is one scumbag that won't offend again (maybe wishful thinking on my part!)
mirror mirror wrote: » Who appoints these judges,?Can they not be questioned about the sentences or rather the lack of sentence by the government ?I think these judges are too far removed from the real world.There seems to be more compassion towards the perpetrator than the victim.
