A judge has refused bail to a man who engaged in an alleged incident of "absolute lawlessness", which resulted in the stabbing of a man, who required hospitalisation as a result.
David Joyce (28), of 35 Palace Crescent, Ardnacassa, Longford, appeared this afternoon before Judge Bernadette Owens at Mullingar District Court, charged with violent disorder and production of an article, namely a shovel and a red-handled screener.
His wife, Winnie Keenan (28), of the same address, was also charged with violent disorder on the same date, October 10, 2024, at Deanscurragh, Longford. She was granted bail and is due to reappear on December 17 at Longford District Court.
Garda Yvonne Glacken, who gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution at a contested bail hearing for Mr Joyce, said the alleged incident took place at 9.30am.
"The injured party, Patrick Stokes, presented at Midoc in Longford with a stab wound to his abdomen, which required hospitalisation," she said. It was alleged that three males assaulted him with a number of implements. Mr Stokes' wife identified Mr Joyce as one of those who assaulted her husband and, from CCTV footage and mobile phone footage, a number of Gardaí were able to positively identify the accused.
Mr Stokes was airlifted to the Mater hospital where he underwent abdominal surgery. During the course of a search at Mr Joyce's property later that evening, Gardaí recovered a shovel and a red-handled screener in the house.
The father of five has a history of involvement in feud-related incidents, Garda Glacken explained, and Gardaí are of the "firm belief" that the feud is "far from over and there will be reprisals from both parties," she said. "When Gardaí arrived, there was a large number of people congregating for David Joyce, including some who came from Dublin," Garda Glacken continued.
"Gardaí seized slash hooks, a machete, shovels, a samurai sword, and there were two kettles of water just inside the front door." She told the court that, should Mr Joyce be admitted to bail, her concern was that there could be "further serious incidents similar to what occurred yesterday".
She also expressed concerns that the clothing worn by Mr Joyce during the course of the alleged incident were not recovered by Gardaí and may have been disposed of by the defendant.
There are no DPP directions as of yet and the investigation is at an early stage, but Garda Glacken indicated that there may be further charges upon completion of the file. CCTV and video footage played in court by Garda David Buckley showed three males exiting a vehicle and running in the direction of Mr Stokes. However, there is only partial footage of the interaction between them.
Garda Buckley was the first to arrive at Midoc when the injured party was being treated for a single puncture injury to his abdomen. He took a number of photographs, which were furnished to the court. Addressing the court, Sergeant Paul McNally, for the state, said the alleged incident took place "early morning, when people were dropping kids to school".
"People were brandishing weapons on the road and a man had been injured. There's an ongoing feud and we have a duty to protect all persons involved on both sides of the feud," he said.
Judge Owens, having considered the evidence, said that she was not satisfied the state had met the threshold under O'Callaghan rules. However, she was satisfied the threshold under Section 2 of the Bail Act 1997 was met as Mr Joyce is currently on Circuit Court bail for an alleged affray. "What we can see (on the CCTV) is absolute lawlessness at 9.30am in a public area when people were going to school," she said.
She said any conditions put forward by defence barrister, Mr Niall Flynn, such as residing outside of Longford, signing on and surrendering travel documents, were not satisfactory. Judge Owens refused bail and remanded Mr Joyce in custody to Longford District Court on October 15 by videolink.
