Apprentice star in firing line over assault charge
Mr Davey, who was recently fired from the Irish version of the hit reality TV show, denied a charge of assault in Leopardstown, Co Dublin, last year.
Joyce Ryan claimed he had become involved in a late-night altercation with her husband, David, after they had complained to a group, which included Mr Davey, that one of Mr Davey’s friends was urinating on their jeep outside the Baan Thai restaurant.
She explained the couple had become upset because the BMW jeep had belonged to her recently deceased father-in-law.
Ms Ryan claimed the Apprentice contestant had called her “nothing but a posh peroxide bitch in a flashy jeep” while also calling her husband “nothing but a short, fat baldy man”.
The court heard evidence that the accused had pushed Ms Ryan to the ground and later hit her husband, and punched and kicked him after he fell to the ground.
Mr Ryan was brought to Loughlinstown Hospital for treatment for bruising to his face and a cut over his eye.
In evidence, Mr Davey admitted pushing Ms Ryan and punching her husband but stressed that such actions were carried out in self-defence.
The accused insisted that he had only got involved in the incident to calm things down as the row had started between the Ryans and his two friends, Gary Hamilton and Alistair Moore.
Mr Davey denied any suggestion they had tried to escape detection by gardaí by not going into a nightclub at Leopardstown Racecourse after realising that they had been followed by Ms Ryan.
The incident took place on February 3, 2007 — more than a year before entrepreneur, Mr Cullen, called on contestants in The Apprentice to become “warriors”. However, the southsider had informed the show’s producers from the outset that he was facing criminal proceedings.
The 30-year-old account manager with biscuit manufacturer, Jacobs, was fired in week ten of the programme.
Mr Davey, of Glencairn Lawn, The Gallops, Leopardstown, could have faced a jail sentence of up to six months and/or a fine of up to €1,904 had he been convicted.
Delivering her ruling, Judge Aingeal Ní Chondúin said it was “an unusual and unfortunate” incident that had got out of hand between people who were not the normal type to come before the court.
Although she initially convicted Mr Davey of the assault on Mr Ryan, she acknowledged that it was a “pushing and shoving offence”.
Judge Ní Chondúin also recognised that the accused might have got involved in the incident “with good intentions”.
Following a plea by Mr Davey’s barrister, Tony McGillicuddy, BL, not to impose a criminal conviction, the judge agreed to strike out the charge on the basis that he made a €300 donation to a children’s charity.
Mr Davey refused to comment on the outcome of the case outside the courtroom.
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