Courts

Man spared jail after knocking neighbour off ladder while trimming hedge between gardens

Ciaran Watters (65) hit fence ferociously, causing Patrick Dunne to fall and head of shovel to come off handle

Garda Noel McBrearty told the court there had been difficulty between the neighbours in the past and this was not the first time he had been called. Photograph: iStock
Garda Noel McBrearty told the court there had been difficulty between the neighbours in the past and this was not the first time he had been called. Photograph: iStock
Natasha Reid
Mon Dec 02 2024 - 19:00

A man has been given a suspended sentence for knocking his neighbour off a ladder as he trimmed the hedge between their back gardens.

Ciaran Watters (65) hit the fence on which the ladder was resting with a shovel so ferociously that the man, aged in his late 70s, fell on to his back and the head of the shovel came off its handle.

Watters, a former butcher, pleaded guilty before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Patrick Dunne causing him harm at the boundary between their homes on the Drumcondra Road in Dublin on June 14th, 2021.

Garda Noel McBrearty told the court there had been difficulty between the neighbours in the past and this was not the first time he had been called.

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On the afternoon in question, he said, Mr Dunne was cutting a hedge, which was creeping up the dividing wall in his back garden. The division comprised a concrete or block wall on top of which there was a three-foot wooden fence.

Mr Dunne was standing on a ladder, which was leaning against the fence, when he noticed Watters in his own garden. The accused then ran towards the wall and hit the fence with a shovel. Before Mr Dunne could get down off the ladder, the accused hit the fence a second time, causing the injured party to lose his balance and fall to the ground.

Mr Dunne, who had previously undergone two hip replacements, was left with significant pain in his hip, spine and shoulder. He went to his doctor that day and gave a statement to gardaí the next day.

The accused attended Ballymun Garda station two days later and initially said Mr Dunne’s account was false. When asked if he could recall where he was on the afternoon in question, he said that he was “probably up in the swimming club”.

In his victim impact statement, Mr Dunne said he now requires pain relief medication for his spine and has had several follow-up appointments with his GP and a specialist. He also has flashbacks and considerable anxiety when thinking about what could have happened.

The court heard that Mr Watters had a previous conviction for a minor assault another for criminal damage. Garda McBrearty agreed with the defence counsel that Watters has not since come to the force’s attention.

Counsel told the judge his client was the eldest of 17 children and suffered trauma as a child, with which he had never dealt. His wife, for whom he is a carer, and three children, while not condoning his behaviour on the day, were in court to support him. Counsel said Watters has since come to the realisation that he was suffering from severe alcohol dependence.

“He doesn’t know why he went at the fence with the shovel, but he was under the influence of alcohol,” counsel said, adding that the accused has since completed an inpatient course for his addiction and has not taken a drink since.

The court heard that he’s very apologetic, has undertaken not to interfere physically or verbally with his neighbour and has offered €5,000 to him as a sign of his remorse.

Judge Orla Crowe described it as a lamentable state of affairs given the men “share the same driveway”.

Given the injured party had been using a bladed strimmer, she said that it was fortunate that no further injury was caused to him. “He was in his own garden doing his gardening and should not have been subject to this assault.”

Judge Crowe proposed a sentence of two years, but fully suspended it for three years on a number of conditions including that Watters not interfere with his neighbours and allow them peaceful and quiet enjoyment of their property. She also ordered the payment of the €5,000 to Mr Dunne.