Suspended prison term for man who assaulted stranger on bus
The case was heard at Achill District Court.
A man who assaulted an artist on a Bus Éireann bus, causing a life-altering injury to the victim's hand, has received a suspended prison sentence.
George Rowland, aged 61, of Dugort, Achill Island, pleaded guilty at the local district court to assault causing harm to Antoin Ó hEocha on September 14, 2023.
A previous sitting of the court was told that Rowland was asked to leave a Bus Éireann bus at his stop at Achill Sound but refused to do so because he was in an intoxicated state.
Mr Ó hEocha, who was also a passenger on the bus, engaged Rowland in conversation and asked him to leave the bus on a number of occasions because the bus was now being delayed. However, Rowland proceeded to assault Mr Ó hEocha, fracturing the fourth and fifth metacarpal on the victim's hand.
Mr Ó hEocha had told the previous court sitting that he works as an artist and has been unable to use his hand in the same way since the assault. Physiotherapists had told him “this is how it will be” for the rest of his life.
Solicitor Gary Mulchrone said his client had a small number of previous convictions. Rowland was himself the victim of a serious assault in the weeks following this incident and the injuries he suffered affected his memory of this event.
However, Mr Mulchrone said the defendant had viewed CCTV footage of the incident and was “disgusted with himself” for acting inappropriately.
Judge Vincent Deane said it was aggravating that this incident occurred on public transport and that the two men were not known to one another. Normally, the case would warrant a headline sentence of eight months in prison, but in light of mitigation, Rowland’s early plea and his high level of empathy towards the victim, the judge said he was willing to reduce the sentence to five months.
Judge Deane said Rowland was learning from his mistakes and agreed to suspend the five-month sentence for a period of two years on condition there are no further criminal offences.
- Published as part of the Courts Reporting Scheme.
