Tipperary man lost teeth and partner knocked out following assault with skateboard

A couple who challenged a Roscrea man over text messages assaulted them with a skateboard, resulting in the man losing three teeth, Nenagh Circuit Criminal Court heard.

Michael Ryan, 40, of Rosslands was convicted of three counts of assault causing harm and one count of production of an article following a trial lasting five days.

The court heard that the couple called to Mr Ryan’s home on December 4, 2018, to challenge the defendant over text messages he was alleged to have sent to the woman, which were “antagonistic in nature”.

Mr Ryan pushed the woman back and told them to “f**k off his property”, the court heard. She fell and hit her head off the concrete ground.

The defendant then took a skateboard and struck her and her partner with it several times.

Both parties received extensive injuries including facial lacerations and cuts. The man lost three teeth in the incident. The woman lost consciousness during the assault and required stitches to her scalp.

Sgt Niall Tobin read out victim impact statements from the injured parties, both of whom were in court.

They both sustained permanent physical scars in the assault, and both said they lived in constant fear of being attacked by Mr Ryan again.

The man said his “whole face changed” after having three of his front teeth knocked out and he had lost confidence in himself.

He would need to get permanent tooth inserts at a cost of €1,000.

The woman said she still suffered from headaches and that the defendant “still smirks at me when he sees me in his car”.

Michelle O’Dwyer, BL, for Mr Ryan, told the court that the defendant’s partner was alleged to have received threatening text messages from one of the injured parties.

Mr Ryan contacted her by text and asked her to stop sending these messages, but “she couldn’t be reasoned with”.

Mr Ryan’s version of events was that when the injured parties called to his door, they were aggressive towards him and he asked them three times to move off his property. Then “things got out of hand”.

The male injured party picked up the skateboard, which was outside the property, and attempted to hit Mr Ryan with it but the defendant ducked, punched the other man and took possession of the skateboard. The situation “escalated” and “happened unexpectedly”, Mr Ryan recalled.

He contacted the gardaí himself afterwards and said he had acted in “self-defence”.

The accused denied taunting the injured party at any stage since the incident. Ms O’Dwyer pointed out that no further interaction between the parties had been reported to the gardaí.

She outlined that there had been a number of difficulties in Mr Ryan’s life, including the death of his partner.

But he was in a “different position now”. He was working with Bord na Móna, with which he had secured two promotions. He also had a daughter in college who was financially dependent on him.

Mr Ryan had “huge anxiety” over facing prison in light of his many responsibilities and personal rehabilitation.

He wanted nothing more to do with the injured parties, though he was willing to pay compensation for the required dental surgery. They had nothing more to fear from him, Ms O’Dwyer said.

Judge Catherine Staines accepted that there were significant mitigating factors in Mr Ryan’s case. She also noted that he had three previous convictions for assaults of a lesser nature.

The judge ruled that the accused would have to spend a period of incarceration.

She imposed two concurrent prison sentences of two years and 12 months.

Judge Staines suspended the last year for a period of two years on condition that Mr Ryan engaged with the Probation Service, mental health and addiction services, and that he stayed away from both injured parties.