Newport man accused of swinging digger bucket at German couple

Newport man accused of swinging digger bucket at German couple


A German couple accusing a 70 year old of assault using the bucket of his digger have  themselves been accused of using the criminal justice system to bully an elderly man.
Judge Mary Devins adjourned the matter at Westport District Court, sitting in Castlebar last week in order to give further consideration to the evidence, and to possibly visit the site of the alleged incident.
Michael and Sylvia Steigerwald allege that on November 2, 2012, Patrick McIntyre of Acres, Newport, swung the bucket of his three-tonne digger, hitting them both, at a property at Drumbrastle, Newport.
The court heard that Mr Steigarwald’s father-in-law had purchased the property in 1993, and that Mr Steigerwald and his wife had subsequently bought the property from him last year.
Giving evidence, Mr Steigerwald alleged that they found Mr McIntyre’s digger blocking the entrance to their property.
Mr Steigerwald told the court that Mr McIntyre later arrived to the site carrying something and ‘bumped’ them out of the way saying ‘f*ck off get out of my way’. Mr McIntyre is then said to have mounted his digger and swung the arm of the machine to the left and then 180 degrees to the right.
In his evidence, Mr Steigerwald said the bucket of the machine hit his wife in the back and hit him in the shoulder.
Defending solicitor Gareth Burke told the court that the road to the Steigarwald’s property was the only road his client could use to access his right of way. Mr Burke said before selling the property in the ’70s, his client ensured that he would always have a legal entitlement of proper access to his land.
Mr Burke said the allegations against his client were ‘a fabrication’ and that the couple were using the criminal justice system to ‘bully an elderly man’.
Mr McIntyre told the court that the gate to his land had been locked and he returned to his house to get a petrol generator to cut the lock.
On arriving back to the site, Mr McIntyre said the lock had been removed. Questioned as to why there was a lock on the gate, Mr Steigerwald said he had put a lock on the gate because Mr McIntyre had put a lock on it locking them out months before.
Civil Engineer John Lambe told the court that if the bucket of Mr McIntyre’s digger collided with a person they would be ‘killed or seriously injured’. Mr Lambe said the only way to avoid injury would be if the bucket was manoeuvred at a very slow pace, but anything in its way would have ‘a lot of time’ to get out of the way.
The Civil Engineer told Judge Devins that because the gate has been locked, Mr McIntyre was now clearing another entrance to his land, and that Mr McIntyre and Mr Steigerwald had cooperated in hanging a gate together.
Judge Devins commented that two men hanging a gate together ‘would suggest some sort of bonding’. The judge adjourned the case for further consideration until November 21 next.