Meanwhile, At Dublin District Court

at

Screen Shot 2016-07-08 at 15.24.37

Clanwilliam Terrace, Dublin 2

The Irish Times reports:

A senior company executive shouldered a cyclist to the ground and began strangling and beating him for riding his bike on a Dublin city-centre footpath, a court has heard.”

“David Corcoran (50) Collinswood, Whitehall, Dublin, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Philip Fitzgerald who suffered dental injuries during the incident at Clanwilliam Terrace in Dublin 2 on July 1st last year.”

Judge Michael Walsh said Corcoran’s actions were completely disproportionate but he ruled that he can avoid a criminal record and a possible sentence by paying €3,930 to cover Mr Fitzgerald’s medical expenses and new false teeth, and he must donate €2,500 to charity.”

The court heard Corcoran punched Mr Fitzgerald in the face and head and got him into a headlock and “kneed him while he was in a headlock”. The attack ended when members of the public intervened.

Executive punches cyclist for riding bike on Dublin footpath (Tom Tuite, Irish Times)

Pic: Google Streetview

Thanks Bob

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92 thoughts on “Meanwhile, At Dublin District Court

  1. Maria

    Bloody cyclists riding through pedestrian traffic lights drive me nuts but I would not have the speed to catch up with one and try and strangle him/her :)

    1. louislefronde

      I’m sorry but that is Assault Causing Harm…wtf is wrong with the judge?

      1. Cup of tea anyone?

        I you replaced senior company executive with inner city teen The sentance would have been very different.

          1. some old queen

            The new one is ‘specialist’. Everyone is a specialist.

            Third level HR education has a lot to answer for. Blinkered world view doesn’t even begin to describe. It is now near impossible to know if Competency Based Interviews are measuring the knowledge of the interviewee, or the interviewer.

        1. Bob

          I’m not so sure. Scumbags get away with serious crimes all the time. They’re scumbags, so it’s rarely reported. This is more a case that nearly all judges in Ireland seem to have no idea how to punish the guilty, instead they just demean the victims.

          1. squidward

            You’re absolutely right. Scumbags do get away with it. As illustrated by this case.

    1. Mikie

      Apparently the victim was happy just to get his costs refunded.. but regardless that was a full on unprovoked assault and he should be treated the same way as anyone without money would be.

    2. Robert

      Reading the piece, the cyclist said he was happy to put it behind him if his medical costs were covered.

  2. Votey McVolteface

    Was the defendant or plaintiff an employee of the nearby tech industry by any chance? Seems probable both were.

  3. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

    “Sometimes needs must?” What is the judge on about? Needs mustn’t. Get off your bike and walk with it.

    Having said that, I’d imagine if the guy weren’t a “senior company executive” he would have received a criminal conviction.

    1. Nessy

      Most commuter/road bikes aren’t designed for cobblestones and it’s perfectly legal for a cyclist to use a footpath

      1. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

        I’m pretty certain it’s illegal to cycle on a footpath unless you’re accessing a driveway.

        1. Nessy

          No you’re wrong. It’s perfectly legal for any cyclist to cycle on a path in Ireland

          1. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

            I thought a bicycle was classed as a vehicle under the RTA 63?

          2. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

            I shouldn’t be quoting the RTA 61 (not 3), really, as it’s been superseded by so much legislation that’s contradictory that you’re probably right. Fair enoughski.

    2. forfeckssake

      The man was knocked off his bike, beaten severely about the head, and strangled. He had dental bills in the thousands. Why are you focussing on the fact that his bike was on the pavement?

  4. Nessy

    “Defence solicitor Eugene Dunne said his client was a senior company executive..” and because of this he’ll pay less than his monthly wage to avoid a jail for knocking an innocent man off his bike, strangling him and and literally knocking his teeth out.

    I bet this guy will probably mow down a cyclist as revenge for getting caught. Another white collared scumbag that thinks he’s above the law

    1. Whatever

      I’m sick to the back teeth of cyclists wilfully ignoring every pedestrian light along that route of the canal.
      Well done to the exec I say, someone needs to put manners on lycra wearing gobpoos.

      1. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

        You’re right. I stop at those lights and I can safely say that pretty much every single other cyclist breaks them. In fact, a guy ploughed into the back of my bike when I stopped at red lights a few mornings ago as he presumed I’d keep going.

      2. forfeckssake

        Whatever, I’m sick of gobpoos writing nonsense on this site so I’m hoping you’ll get beaten up and will have your teeth smashed in. I presume that’s fair enough with you.

    2. some old queen

      Pretty sure the cyclist was not innocent.

      As the judge said, the response was disproportionate but it is something most of us have felt like doing at one stage or another. Some cyclists seem to be completely oblivious to the fact they can do serious harm while riding on a footpath. If they are being so aggressive then IMO so should be the response.

      1. Nigel

        No. No it shouldn’t. You get a fine for cycling on a footpath. You get jail for assault. Supposedly, anyway.

          1. Cup of tea anyone?

            Well there is also a fine for cycling in a pedestrian area. I think footpaths are pedestrian areas.

          2. Nigel

            Huh. There you go:

            ‘Why isn’t cycling on footpaths covered?

            It was in a draft list of fines to be included but the minister for transport Paschal Donohoe said he removed cycling on footpaths from a list because he said that he did not want to stop parents from cycling on footpaths with children or others who were doing so out of fear while not endangering pedestrians. However, the minister said that reckless cycling on footpaths would be covered by the fine for cycling “without reasonable consideration”.’

          3. Nigel

            Actually, I like that very much. Hard to let kids on bikes out on the road given the mad traffic, so this is sensible.

          4. Turgenev

            More sensible, however, to build protected cycle lanes as civilised countries do.

      2. Nessy

        Did you read the article? “Vans were parked on the side of the path and his client leaned in and the hit the bike causing the cyclist to come off.”

        The cyclist could may have well been going at a snails pace on the path (which he is perfectly entitled and legally permitted to do) and the guy physically pushed him off his bike and then seriously assaulted him.

        Some motorists seem to be completely oblivious to the fact they can do serious harm while driving on a road. If they are being so aggressive then IMO so should be the response.

        I suppose a hammer through the windscreen, strangulation and the loss of several teeth would be sufficient for those too?

        1. some old queen

          I am not justifying what this guy done at all but when you have a situation where people with balance problems or visual impairments are afraid to walk down the street because of clowns on bikes hammering along, it is understandable why some pedestrians react.

          This is not a zero sum debate but even if you never hit anyone, riding a bike at ANY speed on a pavement is a very selfish thing to do.

          1. Nigel

            But I’m sure you and I and Nessy would all be outraged if a cyclist who hit someone got off with a slap on the wrist. Same should hold true for this.

          2. some old queen

            Absolutely but the guy on the bike was not totally innocent or the judge would have said so. There is an inference of a certain level or provocation.

            I am not in anyway advocating the assailants behavior but i do welcome the fact that it may register with some cyclists that they should not be on the pavement and if so, they are fair game to be challenged.

          3. Nigel

            Can’t say I’m comfortable with the notion that a victim of a savage beating can be held to be ‘not innocent’ to some degree in mitigation of the assailant.

  5. gorugeen

    Am I missing something here? If I tried to strangle a random stranger ,no matter how successfully, methinks a criminal record would be a given. No?

  6. Eoin

    And executive you say? Give him the psychopath test. No doubt he’d fail it like the rest of his ilk. I don’t think you get to be an executive these days unless you are willing to treat people like this guy treated this cyclist. Not excusing cyclists by the way but that reaction is severe.

  7. phil

    I wonder would one loose their job for that type of behavior? I guess a criminal conviction would trigger that hence the option of paying the money ….

    is nora private or public company?

  8. David

    When was the last time that a cyclist injured someone?
    When was the last time that a motorist injured someone?
    Enough said

    1. some old queen

      This is not a cyclist vs motorist, it is about the right of pedestrians to peacefully go about their business. Because no one was injured does not mean that no one felt threatened or uncomfortable.

      In the way way as motorists are inconsiderate to cyclists, cyclists are also inconsiderate to pedestrians. They are not the victim here.

      1. forfeckssake

        The cyclist is definitely the victim. I think you’ll find that is what the judge found. This article is not about the rights of pedestrians. It is about a thug who beat the crap out of someone.

    2. Birneybau2

      A cyclist went flying along the path in Phibsboro the other day, sent a 60 year old woman that I work with flying. She came into work but had to go home as she was clearly in shock and pain.

      1. St. John Smythe

        Well then, that sounds reasonalbe I guess… that cyclist in this reported case definitely deserved to get strangled and his teeth broken for what the cyclist in your story did to your 60 year old colleague

    1. Bruncvik

      So 11 years as an accountant, and another 15 as a financial controller. Not a “senior exec”, more like a frustrated pencil-pusher who finally snapped.

    2. Paddy

      And at 20:10 hrs ‘this profile is not available’ on LinkedIn. How does he expect to change job?

    1. medieval knievel

      ‘he lost his cool’ and ‘he punched someone to the ground and tried to strangle them’ don’t really belong in the same category.

      otherwise i’m sure you could argue that the 8 to 9 hits you mention (for no reason) could be described as people losing their cool.

    2. forfeckssake

      He could have killed the man. The Times don’t say the victims age for some reason but it does say he needed “new dentures” implying he already had dentures.

    3. St. John Smythe

      How many people got killed in that bomb in Bagdad? Why are we even mentioning the 8/9 shot dead in Dublin then..??

      Wait…how many people go shot in Orlando? why are we wasting our time talking about Bagdad..???

      (there is always something worse you can point to)

    4. LW

      @moroccan, that’s ridiculous. Everything short of shooting someone dead is grand so?

  9. topsy

    When the judge deems you to be of the proper class, well then many criminal activities can be excused.

  10. LeoppoldGloom

    Ehm, Nessy, cycling on footpaths is illegal so stop saying it is legal. You are wrong.

    Otherwise disgraceful sentence. A criminal record, suspended sentence of 3-5 years and 100+ hours of community services and damages is appropriate

  11. Mulder

    Some motorists stoped, to assist, in that they offered to hold the cyclist down while the executive beat the living bejesus out of the cyclist.
    Think motorists are in reality frustrated cyclists, while cyclists are frustrated motorists.

  12. Turgenev

    Since when is Clanwilliam Terrace in ‘Dublin city centre’? Is this an example of “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold”? Last time I was there it was on the lonely echoing edge of Ringsend.

  13. forfeckssake

    When you look at the street it is very narrow and may have been obstructed worse than this. The article mentions vans. The pavement is very wide on one side of the road and it doesn’t say how many people were walking or what speed the cyclist was going at. Generally I am against cycling on the path but it may not have actually been dangerous behaviour here.

  14. moroccan rug dealer

    The cyclist had dentures and offender purchased a new set of gnashers. Havent read of cuts, bruises, a deliberate belt in mouth splitting his lip.etc and no blood drawn. Two auld women with handbags and dont make a mountain out of a molehill.

  15. rugbylane

    Now then everyone, when pedestrians only cross Dublin’s roads at the correct points (and only when the little man is green!), I’ll take some heed of all the anti-cyclist bitching.

    Until then…. Tally Ho!

  16. Self Pithy

    Cycling on footpaths is illegal. Easy enough to Google that one. People here saying it is perfectly legal are wrong:

    For example, Article 11 of the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2012 prohibits you from cycling beyond a traffic sign that prohibits bicycles. Article 14 of the Road Traffic (Traffic & Parking) Regulations 1997 (as substituted by the 2012 Regulations) provides that where a cycle lane is provided, you must use it. If the cycle lane is a contra-flow cycle lane, you can only cycle in the contra-flow direction on it. Article 13 of the 1997 Regulations makes it an offence to cycle on a footpath unless you are entering or exiting a property. Under Article 45 of the 1997 Regulations (as amended by the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) (Amendment) Regulations 1998), you must not cycle in a pedestrianised street or area during the period indicated on the information plate accompanying the pedestrianised street or area traffic sign, unless you are cycling on a cycle lane.

    1. Deluded

      There seems to be an exemption:
      http://m.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/cyclists-who-use-footpaths-will-not-be-fined-31342974.html
      Dangerous or reckless behaviour is covered though, the penalty being a fine as opposed to battery.
      It would be nice if the exemption just applied to children and that adults would keep to the road but the minister acknowledged dangerous road conditions and obstructive parking as a factor in the decision. I would also include aggressive drivers who seem hell-bent on speeding for 100 metres at a time as if they aren’t actually in a queue of traffic.

      1. Self Pithy

        So, according to the statues it’s illegal, but the decision to fine is discretionary, because – grey areas, etc…

        1. Deluded

          Yes, the “grey areas” being tonne+ machines moving at 10metres per second, illegal parking or simply trying to make a right turn.

  17. some old queen

    There is two separate issues in this thread. The first is the man who assaulted a cyclist. Nobody can justify what he did and whether he received too lenient a sentence is up for debate. I personally think he did btw.

    But, he was somewhat provoked and that leads to the second. I really don’t think that fines will stop people cycling on pavements but education will. There are people out there, particularly some types of disabilities and elderly who with good reason are very afraid of cyclists on pavements. I expect those cyclists in turn would be surprised and possibly shocked if they knew how their inconsiderate actions are limiting other people’s freedoms.

    You are for the most part decent people so just don’t do it. Get off and walk.

    1. Deluded

      That’s a fair point. Adults should share the road or get off and walk. An exemption for children may be abused by the lazy and inconsiderate.

      1. some old queen

        I did a visually impaired education course which has always stayed with me. I assumed it was blind or not beforehand. An incredibly graceful woman who was a professional dancer before her accident made a presentation then handed around a series of goggles. Each replicated a specific eye condition, none of which was blind.

        I learned a lot that day.

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