Drunken row between a number of men at the Arkle statue in Ashbourne
A DRUNKEN row between a number of men at the Arkle statue in Ashbourne ended with one of them sustaining serious injuries requiring hospitalisation, Trim Circuit Court was told during the sentencing of a 34-year-old Romanian man.
Valentin Catoi of no fixed address but located in Swords, Co Dublin, was charged with assault causing actual bodily harm to a Mr Petra at the Arkle statue, Ashbourne, on 6th August 2022. He pleaded guilty.
Detective Garda Damien Griffin told the court that at 10.50pm on the night in question he was called to a house in Ashbourne where he was told by a man that his flat mate was upstairs injured.
A Mr Kostan Petra was lying in the bathtub with visible injuries to his arms and face and was unable to communicate. In a statement, Mr Petra said that he was socialising with his friend, a Mr Mieuw, that they were drinking alcohol at the Arkle Memorial statue. They were joined by the defendant. An argument broke out between the injured man and the accused. The injured man was rendered unconscious from an assault by the accused. The accused and Mr Mieuw left the injured party lying on the ground.
An ambulance was called and the injured man was brought to hospital. There was no CCTV around the scene but the detective said he was able to get a medical report on Mr Petra.
The injured party suffered a bruise to his eye, swelling to his elbow and left wrist, a fracture of his distal left radius and ulna, a dislocation of his elbow, a fracture of his radial head on his right side and multiple facial fractures.
The following January, the accused was arrested and interviewed. He initially claimed that he and the injured party had an argument, that he had pushed the injured party against concrete and he claimed that Mr Petra got back up and he pushed him a second time. When the medical report was put to him the accused said he could not have caused those injuries and blamed someone else. The Garda said that the victim had not provided a victim impact statement.
The accused had three previous convictions, all traffic related.
In reply to barrister Niall Gallagher (instructed by solicitor Maurice Regan), the Garda said that the accused had come to Ireland in October 2019 and while he had been homeless he still maintained his employment. He cooperated with the Garda, accepted his involvement and gave an account of what happened. He agreed with the lawyer that a remark about the accused being homeless led to the row.
Mr Gallagher said he was instructed to extend an apology to the victim for what had happened. When he left Romania he left behind a younger brother who was then 13 and was now 19 and he has been sending money back to him.
His mother left when he was four and he was raised mainly by his father but then took a “paternal role” in the care of his brother. When he left to come to Ireland his father was working as a truck driver in Germany. He was currently earning €500 per week and paying €480 rent per month. He was sleeping rough but also going to work. His shifts were 3pm-11pm six days per week. The barrister said his client had no money in court.
The judge said that one would want to be made of steel not to be affected by the description of Mr Petra’s injuries. These injuries must have affected Mr Petra to some extent. This was an offence which, at the time it was committed, carried a five-year prison sentence. If it had been committed a year later it would carry a 10-year sentence.
“So it is by any stretch of the imagination a serious offence”. Here was a man who was left unconscious, left there in that state by the two of you who were with him”.
He imposed a two and a half year prison sentence, suspending the last 12 months of it.
He also ordered him to engage with the Probation Service for 18 months following his release.
- Funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme