Belmullet men sent to jail after assaulting Pakistani traders with iron bars

Belmullet men sent to jail after assaulting Pakistani traders with iron bars


TWO Belmullet men have been remanded in custody awaiting the preparation of probation reports after they were found guilty of assaulting Pakistani casual traders with iron bars in a midnight row on Fair Day in Belmullet last August.
Thomas Cawley (34) of Tallagh Road, Belmullet and David Conroy (22) of Attycunnane, Belmullet were both also charged with criminal damage and public order offences arising from the same incident.
The two men denied the charges of assault and denied some aspects of the criminal damage and public order offences against them but Judge David Anderson found both men guilty of all charges and remanded them to Castlerea Prison until such a time as probation reports are available.
Pakistani traders Abdul Gafor, Rashmaid Said and Muhammed Mujahi told the court that they had stalls set up near the Square in Belmullet on the evening of August 14.
When they returned to their stalls after midnight, Mr Gafor said he witnessed a van drive into the stalls and three men get out and break down a number of stalls with the iron bars used to assemble the stalls.
Gafor also told the court that when he and his two colleagues asked the trio to stop, they attacked them with iron bars, hitting Gafor on the head while Mr Majahi was badly bruised on the arms from when he held his arms over his face for protection.
Majahi said the men shouted at him ‘you f***ing Paki bastard’ and ‘I’ll kill you, you Paki bastard’.
Garda Thomas Organ said that David Conroy told him to ‘f*** off’ when he put the allegations to him on the night while Garda Debbie Kyne said Thomas Cawley was behaving in an aggressive manner when she went to arrest him. Garda Organ said a third man was accused of being involved in the incident but fled the scene. The Garda officers arrived after receiving a phonecall from the traders.
Denying the assault charge, Thomas Cawley told the court that he hadn’t been drinking on the night in question and while driving through the town he had to veer into a stall to avoid an oncoming car. He denied causing further damage to stalls and claims a group of men whom he couldn’t see were shouting at him for compensation. He also claimed he received a blow to the nose, after which he remembered nothing until the Gardaí arrived.
David Conroy told the court that he had been drinking at Cawley’s house before Cawley went to drop him home. He said he received a blow to the back of the head but didn’t see who struck him.
He denied the Section 2 assault with the iron bar.
However Judge David Anderson found both men guilty of all charges against them. The court was told that Cawley is currently in jail awaiting Circuit Court sentencing for a separate assault while Conroy had a number of previous convictions. Both men were remanded in custody until such a time as a probation report was available and, in Cawley’s case, until sentencing is made at the Circuit Court in January. Miriam Tallon, Probation Officer, said a delay of two months could be expected for the probation report.