A man in a Cork chipper at midnight told another man to “f*** off back to Belfast” before attacking him, grabbing him in a head-lock and punching him fiercely.
That was the prosecution evidence against 47-year-old John Riordan, of no fixed address, and previously of Meadow Park Lawn, Ballyvolane, Cork, who denied assaulting the man and his wife, claiming he was the one who was threatened and assaulted.
However, Judge Dermot Sheehan said at Cork Circuit Appeals Court on Friday that the district court judge who convicted John Riordan and imposed a four-month suspended sentence got it right.
Judge Sheehan affirmed the conviction and sentence on John Riordan for assaulting Peter Walsh by punching him repeatedly, and assaulting his wife Nuala Ryan, who was knocked over as she intervened to protect her husband.
The couple went into Lennoxs chipper on MacCurtain Street, Cork, at about midnight on May 21, 2022, for some food on their way home and Mr Walsh sat briefly at a table while he and his wife chatted about what they would get to eat. Mr Riordan sat down opposite him with his own food.
Mr Walsh testified: “This guy sat opposite — I never saw him before in my life. He kept staring and intimidating and he was mumbling stuff. Then out loud he said, ‘F*** off back to Belfast’.
“He was literally in my face. I stood up. He came across to me. I pushed him away. He attacked me. I was bleeding from the nose and a busted lip.”
The appellant’s barrister Andrea Gilligan put it to the injured party he started it by pushing Mr Riordan. He replied he pushed him because he was leaning over him and he feared he was going to be head-butted.
Nuala Ryan corroborated her husband’s account, saying the appellant caught her husband in a head-lock and punched him fiercely into the face.
As for the comment about Belfast she said of her husband: “He is from Ulster. He is not from Belfast.”
John Riordan then gave evidence saying Mr Walsh said “he was going to get a fella from the North to shoot me”. He added: “Over this threat and being pushed I retaliated.”
Under cross-examination by State solicitor Frank Nyhan, John Riordan said: “You are trying to accuse me of something — I got assaulted and I am the one on the stand.”
Peter Walsh was recalled to be given an opportunity to respond to the allegation he threatened to get someone from the North to shoot Mr Riordan.
Denying he ever said such a thing, he said: “I am shocked. That is BS.”
When Judge Sheehan affirmed the two assault convictions, he asked if John Riordan had any other convictions.
Sergeant John Kelleher said the appellant had been convicted of seven other assaults and one other count of assault causing harm.
The judge did not alter the total sentence of four months suspended, which was imposed for the assaults on the couple at Lennoxs.