Former welder jailed for activity at \u2018known drug facility\u2019 in Limerick city<\/a><\/p>\nProsecuting barrister Lily Buckley, instructed by State solicitor Brendan Gill, outlined the evidence with the assistance of Sergeant Rob Sheehy. Ms Buckley said the incident was captured on good quality CCTV and asked Sgt Sheehy to play the footage and narrate it for Judge Fiona O\u2019Sullivan.<\/p>\n
Sgt Sheehy pointed out Mr O\u2019Connor at the bar and Mr Sheridan \u201cpulling Mr O\u2019Connor\u2019s pants down as a prank\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr O\u2019Connor is gesturing at Mr Sheridan and a verbal altercation between them ensues. Other men get involved to separate them. There is grappling and grabbing and a number of men engage in a brawl,\u201d said Sgt Sheehy.<\/p>\n
The sergeant said the CCTV shows Mr Sheridan\u2019s head in the shoulder area of another gentleman (not James O\u2019Connor) in a biting incident, which resulted in the loss of part of the man’s ear.<\/p>\n
The court heard that Mr Sheridan smashed a pint glass against a pool table and threw a pint glass. Mr O\u2019Connor threw a glass into a crowd of people. Nobody was struck by the pint glasses thrown during the brawl at around 8pm on St Patrick\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n
Sgt Sheehy said a number of others involved in the violent incident in Rathkeale have been before the courts.<\/p>\n
Mr Sheridan exercised his right to silence when he was interviewed by gardai. Ms Buckley said Mr O\u2019Connor also availed of his right to silence apart from telling gardai, \u201cHe pulled down my pants – that\u2019s why it all started. We didn\u2019t start it – we were drunk\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Buckley said Mr Sheridan has no previous convictions. Mr O\u2019Connor had a theft matter in Spain over 20 years ago.<\/p>\n
Mr Sheridan was represented by Kenneth Kerins BL, instructed by solicitor Michael O\u2019Donnell. Mr Kerins said the CCTV footage speaks for itself, saying that his client played a prank without intending for a second what would ensue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was quite a bit of alcohol consumed. There was no pre-meditation, no bad blood, no feud. It was a very poor decision. Mr Sheridan thought he was being funny – he wasn\u2019t. He accepts that what happened is effectively his fault,\u201d said Mr Kerins.<\/p>\n
The barrister said the tragic death of Mr Sheridan\u2019s daughter Marguerita O’Rourke (n\u00e9e Sheridan) in December 2024 has had a significant impact on the family.<\/p>\n
Mr Kerins said Mr Sheridan was \u201cvery against\u201d and had \u201cdeep concerns\u201d over the relationship between Ms O’Rourke (n\u00e9e Sheridan) and the man who would become her husband. The barrister said that \u201cunfortunately this was borne out in tragedy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ms Buckley said it was a dangerous driving incident that claimed the life of Ms O’Rourke (n\u00e9e Sheridan).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had nothing to do with her husband. Her death is no way attributable to her husband or the relationship,\u201d said Ms Buckley.<\/p>\n
Aaron Desmond BL, who represented Mr O\u2019Connor, said provocation led to his reaction and while he threw a glass object, nobody was injured. The barrister said there has been no animosity between the parties since the incident.<\/p>\n
Mr Kerins, in mitigation for Mr Sheridan, said his client\u2019s intention in playing the prank was jocular fun after consuming alcohol.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he hadn\u2019t done it none of us would be here,\u201d said Mr Kerins, who added that due to \u201cthe fragility of the male ego\u201d there was a response.<\/p>\n
Mr Kerins said Mr Sheridan is a 48-year-old married father-of-four, who suffered the tragic loss of a daughter, which has had a devastating impact on the family.<\/p>\n
The barrister said Mr Sheridan is involved in horses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very niche, very small horses for those with sensory and additional needs. He plans to leave Rathkeale for Scotland not because of any difficulties but to help with the grieving process,\u201d said Mr Kerins, who added that Mr Sheridan has stopped drinking.<\/p>\n
Mr Desmond said, on behalf of Mr O’Connor, that his client is a hard-working 46-year-old married father-of-four.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is very remorseful and wants to put the whole episode behind him. They are exceptional circumstances which led to the offending behaviour. He did not see it coming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a humiliating event in a crowded pub. He admits his wrongdoing. He is unlikely to appear before a court again,\u201d said Mr Desmond, who asked Judge O\u2019Sullivan to \u201cdistinguish a bad act from a bad life\u201d.<\/p>\n
Judge O\u2019Sullivan said it was a stupid prank by Mr Sheridan which escalated matters and Mr O’Connor appears to have overreacted to it.<\/p>\n
The judge imposed a 15-month prison sentence on Mr O\u2019Connor for violent disorder which she suspended in full. Mr Sheridan received a 24-month jail sentence for violent disorder which was suspended in full.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE FATHER of Marguerita O’Rourke (n\u00e9e Sheridan) – who died after her uncle drove his van into steel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461784,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[45,2177,42,67397,43,39830,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-461783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-county-limerick","tag-headlines","tag-limerick-circuit-court","tag-news","tag-rathkeale","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461783\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}