The history of rural Ireland for hundreds of years was littered with disputes involving land and families, judge Cormac Dunne told Trim District Court in a case in which a 50-year-old farmer was accused of assaulting one of his brothers and committing damage on the vehicle of another brother by throwing a stone at it.

Before the court was Kevin Leddy of Old Mellifont, Collon, Co Meath, who was charged with damaging a vehicle owned by Hugh Leddy on 20 March last year; and assaulting another brother, Donal, by emptying a syringe of liquid at him and spitting at home during an incident at the Mellifont on 29 June last year.

The court was told that Slane garda Liam Hennessy had tried on many occasions over six years to mediate in disputes between the brothers, but had been unsuccessful.

Judge Dunne said he was disappointed that the feuding parties had not taken the advice of an experienced garda to settle their differences in what he called “this tragic and distressing” case, involving on one side an 80-year-old mother (note: not 86 as previously stated), her four sons, a daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

Throwing a stone

Three brothers and garda Hennessy gave evidence for the prosecution, while the defendant, his wife Breda and Kevin junior and a friend of the defendant gave evidence for the defence.

Hugh Leddy gave evidence that he had been visiting his mother and was driving out of the farmyard, when he saw Kevin Leddy in his rear view mirrors throwing a stone at his car. He reported the matter to the Gardaí.

Padraig Devine said he worked on the same farm as Kevin Leddy. Kevin had called to his house because Devine owed him some money for milking cows. Kevin Leddy arrived at his house at 9.30pm on that date and had left his house after 11pm.

He had written “paid Kevin” on his calendar, which was shown to the court. Inspector Martina Noonan asked if it was not unusual that this was the only time he had written “paid Kevin” in the whole year and he replied “it’s the only way I can keep track of it”. She put it to him that he had written it in afterwards. He repiled:

No, I would not come in here and tell lies.

Judge Dunne then dealt with the alleged assault charge.

Donal Leddy said he visited his mother at the farm four times a week. As he was leaving on this occasion, Kevin Leddy was shouting at him and he had something behind his back.

“He had a syringe and he sprayed me and the inside of the ear. He said: ‘It’s not over yet, your day will come when there’s no cameras around (referring to CCTV cameras)’. He came up to my window with his arms folded and put a large spit into my face,” Donal told the court. He had reported the matter to the Gardaí in Navan.

Ciaran Leddy, who lives with his mother (80), gave evidence that when Donal visited his mother, he was watching Donal leave on the CCTV monitor he had in his living room.

He had gone outside for fear there would be an altercation and stood out of view and saw Kevin Leddy with a syringe 12” long.

“I shouted at him ‘you’re on CCTV’ and he kept threatening Donal and said ‘you won’t always have the cameras behind you’.

For sale or not for sale

Ciaran Leddy denied that when Kevin had put land up for sale he had erected “not for sale” signs outside the premises. He said that it was untrue that there was a degree of annoyance and upset that the land had been put for sale.

Garda Hennessy said he had been called up to the farm on many occasions. The farm had been put up for sale.

The Gardaí had tried mediation on many occasions over a five to six year period, but it hadn’t worked.

Breda Leddy, the spouse of the defendant, gave evidence that her daughter had been “destroyed” by bullying “around the house, the school and on the internet”.

She hadn’t left her bedroom because of anxiety. She said: “We have gone through hell on earth from bullying”. There had been a complaint to Meath County Council about decomposing bales and Kevin had removed these.

“They did not want Kevin to move them because they wanted him prosecuted”.

Bullying

She denied that her husband had a syringe in his hand. She said: “My daughter is terrified of these people and the bullying. It’s all about land and property”.

She said they had full right of way, but it had not been registered. She claimed Mrs Leddy senior had refused to sign the registration and a sale of land had fallen through.

The defendant said in evidence that he had not been present at the alleged damage incident, but was in Mr Devine’s house at Tenure several miles away. He denied as “a complete lie” that he had thrown a stone at his brother’s car.

Referring to the alleged assault, the defendant said he knew there was going to be trouble that night. He had worked the farm since he was 15 and with no education. He alleged that Donal had shouted at him “you have two nutty daughters down there”.

Verdict

“This case can only be described as tragic and distressing. You have a mother, four sons, a daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

“We have four sons taking the oath, three for the prosecution and Kevin and his wife Breda and Kevin junior on the other side. You have Mr Devine and I put zero weight on his evidence. Whether we like it or not, we are dealing with tragic aspects of this case. It is tragic and depressing,” Judge Dunne said.

The judge imposed a fine of €150 on the damage charge and €400 on the assault charge, stating that there were no winners in the case and the biggest loser was the mother of all four men.

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