Mayo man found guilty of criminal damage to car belonging to a relative
Brian McDonagh, of Fr Meehan Place, Castlebar, County Mayo, was found guilty of one count of criminal damage but was acquitted of possession of an article.The jury gave their verdict on Friday, one day after the trial commenced at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.The court heard that Christina McDonagh, her husband, Patrick McDonagh, and her father were in her home at 73 Springfield Court, Castlebar, on the evening of July 18, 2020, when they heard a noise outside.They observed McDonagh, who is a second cousin of theirs and lived nearby, and a co-accused, who is a distant relation of theirs, damaging their Toyota Corolla. The pair, who allegedly used implements described in court as hatchets, fled after Ms McDonagh went outside.Garda Russell Gibbons photographed the damaged windows, windscreen, wing mirror and passenger door of the car as part of the resulting investigation. No blood, DNA, or fingerprint evidence was discovered on the car.Although no hatchet was recovered from the scene, Gda Gibbons told the trial that the damage “looks like a mark that an axe would make”.Both Patrick McDonagh and Christina McDonagh made statements to gardaí outlining what they had seen of the incident.Counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Patrick Reynolds, BL, read the McDonaghs statements to the court after they both refused to give evidence.Ms McDonagh did not explain why she would not give evidence, telling the court that she wished to see the charges withdrawn.“I would prefer not to give evidence,” she said.Her husband, Patrick McDonagh, also declined to give evidence, saying he wished to withdraw his complaint against Brian McDonagh.The court heard that Patrick McDonagh saw Brian McDonagh at the house but believed it was the other co-accused who damaged the car.Patrick McDonagh agreed with defence counsel, Ms Christine Burke, BL, when she put it to him that it was “100pc” the co-accused who carried out the damage.Judge Eoin Garavan said that McDonagh’s written statements would be admissible as evidence in the trial.The jury returned their verdict on Friday morning,Judge Garavan remanded Brian McDonagh in custody and adjourned the matter for sentencing until July 21.
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