€3,000 compensation for Navan road-rage victims

A LITHUANIAN national who pleaded guilty to assaulting a mother and her 15-year-old son while they were sitting in a car stopped at traffic lights, escaped a conviction at Navan Court after paying compensation of €3,000 to the injured parties.

Mariws Peckys (25), with an address at Railway Street, Navan, was charged with assaulting the mother and son at Proudstown Road, Navan, on 21st August 2007.

The investigating garda had previously told the court that the injured party was travelling towards Navan on the Proudstown Road and had stopped at traffic lights. The driver of the car behind had got out, opened the driver's door and assaulted the woman, striking her several times in the face. He then went to the passenger door and struck her son before getting back into his car and driving across the grass verge and leaving the scene of the assault.

The case had been adjourned from 26th September for the defendant to come up with compensation of €1,500 for each of the injured parties, which was handed in to court.

Judge Brophy commented that it had been an "expensive episode" that cost the defendant a lot of money and that he "wouldn't be doing it a second time", as he applied the Probation Act.