Court is told of dispute between Mayo brothers

A dispute between siblings saw a man found guilty of careless driving and production of an article during an incident which caused his brother’s van to end up in a ditch.

Martin Duffy, aged 50, formerly of Owenwee, Westport, but now residing in Turlough, Castlebar appeared before Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court where he was charged with two counts of criminal damage, dangerous driving, and production of an article, namely a stone.

Judge Eoin Garavan directed that the jury return a verdict of not guilty on the second count of criminal damage due to a lack of evidence concerning the damage caused. The jury found Martin Duffy not guilty of the remaining criminal damage charge.

In dangerous driving cases, a jury or judge has the power to convict on the lesser charge of careless driving and the jury opted to return a guilty verdict for careless driving instead of dangerous driving. Duffy was also found guilty of production of an article.

It was alleged that on November 6, 2024, Martin Duffy was driving dangerously and used his vehicle to strike his brother Patrick’s van and force him into a ditch. It was alleged that this caused damage to the passenger side of Patrick’s van and it was further claimed that Martin threw a stone which struck the bonnet of Patrick’s van.

CCTV from a local filling station was played in court. It showed Martin Duffy’s Peugeot Boxer van performing a U-turn in a garage forecourt on the Leenane Road after his brother had driven past him in the other direction. Three video clips recorded during the incident by Patrick Duffy on his phone were also played for the jury.

Patrick Duffy told the court that at around 4.30pm on November 6, 2024, he was travelling from his home in Drummin East, Westport to his lands at Owenwee. He was going to check on his sheep as a number of days previously a gate had been left open and a neighbour had put the sheep back in the field for him.

Patrick said while driving on the Leenane Road, a courier van being driven by his brother passed him. He continued to Owenwee where everything seemed to be in order with his sheep.

Patrick said while driving back in the direction of the Leenane Road he met a jeep with a trailer and then his brother’s van. He told the court he reversed his Transit and while the jeep and trailer passed him at a clear point on the road, Martin’s vehicle continued to drive forward nose-to-nose with his van.

Patrick said as he was reversing, Martin got out of his van and ran towards him for a distance of 15-20 metres. Patrick said after his brother returned to his van, he continued to reverse before Martin threw a “big stone” out the window of his van which hit the bonnet of his vehicle.

Patrick said when his van reached a sheep pen, he stopped but alleged that Martin’s vehicle was at an angle which prevented him from moving away. He claimed Martin got out of his van again and was pointing and gesturing towards him before again returning to his vehicle.

He said Martin was on the phone and continued to drive nose-to-nose to his van as he reversed. Patrick told the court he then tried to move around his brother’s van but stated that Martin reversed into him causing his Transit to end up in the ditch on its side. Patrick said that after maybe a minute, his brother then drove away.

Barrister Sean Prendiville, representing Martin Duffy, said relations were not good between the brothers. He said Martin was previously acquitted of an assault charge brought against him by Patrick and was on bail in relation to that matter at the time of the incident in November 2024.

Mr Prendiville claimed that his client was driving to his home because Patrick wanted him out of the house and he feared items would be removed. Under cross-examination, Patrick Duffy denied taking any items from the property.

The barrister put it to Patrick that his claim to be checking on sheep was false and he travelled to the house at Owenwee to “sniff around”. The legal representative said it was Patrick who clipped the back of his brother’s van which caused the vehicle to end up in the ditch and that his client had never reversed into him.

Mr Prendiville said there was no mention of who the neigbour was who reported the sheep getting loose to Patrick. The barrister also queried why the video clips were not one continuous shot of the incident. Patrick said his phone had slipped from his hand.

Mr Prendiville told the court that when Martin Duffy was on the phone in his van he was calling the Gardaí for back-up and was concerned about his bail conditions. He said the incident constituted a breach of his bail and Martin was in custody for almost a year before his acquittal on an assault charge.

Gda Seamus Kelly told the court that the incident was reported to him at 5.30pm on November 6, 2026. He said Martin Duffy presented himself at Westport Garda Station at 8.20pm where he was arrested.

During interview, Martin said the relationship between him and his brother was “not good”. He said there was a dispute over land and a will. He accused Patrick and his wife of being liars and claimed they were trying to “get me locked up". 

Martin denied running his brother off the road and told officers that Patrick’s van had struck the back of his vehicle.

“If he was watching where he was going instead of videoing, he wouldn’t have driven into the ditch,” Martin stated during his garda interview. He also accused his brother of trying to provoke him.

Before closing speeches, Judge Garavan directed that the jury return a verdict of not guilty on the second count of criminal damage. This was the allegation that a stone thrown by Martin had damaged the bonnet of the Transit van.

Following the jury’s verdict, Judge Garavan adjourned sentencing to March 11 next year.

• Published as part of the Courts Reporting Scheme.