Man loses appeal after admitting one assault charge
Leonard Geasley of 15 St Michael’s Lawn, Mahon, Cork, pleaded guilty to carrying out an unprovoked assault on Gary Cuthbert, 29, on October 3, 2012. Geasley, aged 26, denied assaulting Tracey Cuthbert, the other injured party’s cousin during the same incident.
Testifying at his appeal of two concurrent four-month sentences, Geasley said of being charged with assaulting the young woman that she grabbed him by the shoulders and he just shook himself free without touching her.
“If anything, she assaulted me,” Geasley said yesterday at Cork Circuit Appeals Court.
He was appealing the conviction and sentence for assaulting Tracey Cuthbert and the severity of the sentence for assaulting her cousin Gary Cuthbert, solicitor, Diarmuid Kelleher, explained.
Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin heard the case afresh and after hearing all the evidence said the District Court judge had gotten it right and that Geasley had assaulted the man and the woman and that the four-month sentence on each was merited.
Mr Kelleher submitted that Geasley had some demons as a result of a serious assault on him when he was a young teenager.
Judge Ó Donnabháin said, “His attitude to this girl is very problematic, I don’t know what is going on his head. This man should clear out whatever demons are in his head and not be taking them out on others.”
Tracey Cuthbert said when she intervened after Geasely had punched her cousin three times, Geasely punched her in the head and the front shoulder area.
Geasley had been in a car with three other men around the time of the incident. Two of them gave evidence corroborating his version of events.
Gary Cuthbert said he was removing a trailer with a dog which he was bringing to a cousin’s house and that Tracey was also visiting the house. He said Geasley called his name, walked over to him and punched him in the head for no reason.
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