Man had to have part of bowel removed after attack by partner's ex

A man had to have part of his bowel removed after he was stabbed in the stomach by his girlfriend's ex-partner following an ongoing dispute between the two men.

Joseph O' Callaghan (aged 40) of Le Fanu Road, Ballyfermot, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Michael Flood causing him harm on July 5, 2007. O'Callaghan and Mr Flood's girlfriend have five children together.

Mr Flood had just smashed a window in O'Callaghan's apartment, when the accused and his two teenage sons, one of whom was armed with a golf club, chased after him. O'Callaghan then stabbed him twice with a steak knife.

O'Callaghan had two previous convictions, one for failing to appear in court and the other for a drink driving offence. He had not come to garda attention since the assault.

Judge Patrick McCartan sentenced O'Callaghan to 18 months in prison which he suspended having taken into account, his "reasonably clear record", his co-operation with the gardaí and his plea of guilty.

"You are lucky you are not facing a more serious charge. What you did was very foolish," Judge McCartan said after he warned O'Callaghan "I'll give you this one chance but if you come before the courts again and there are further incidences between you, the outcome will be different."

He said he read from Mr Flood's victim impact report that the man now wants to put things behind him and Judge McCartan added that he was "happy to hear that there has been no reoccurrence of any confrontation between the two since the assault".

Garda Gavin Ryan told Ms Elva Duffy BL, prosecuting, that Mr Flood was taken St James's Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery.

He said there had been "a history between the two men" which had been mainly verbal and that day Mr Flood and his girlfriend had been getting calls from O'Callaghan that day.

Mr Flood told gardaí that he had smashed O'Callaghan's window because he thought the accused had earlier broken a window in his girlfriend's home.

Gda Ryan said it was Mr O'Callaghan who reported the stabbing to gardaí and he claimed that Mr Flood kept shouting at him "come on, come on" when he ran towards him with the knife.

Mr Breffni Gordon BL, defending, told Judge McCartan that his client's "circumstances are quite bleak". He was not working having been on disability allowance since he hurt his back in his last job.

He asked the court to accept that "essentially" O'Callaghan had an unblemished record and there had been "some provocation on the night".

Mr Gordon said his client wanted to get on with his own life and wanted to "live and let live".