Corkman told dog to bite 'belch-like coughing' neighbour during 'high stress' Covid, court told

The defendant told the court: “He coughed and sprayed in my face. I said, ‘You are some scut – what are you doing?’"

The judge found James Glavin guilty on the evidence of assaulting Mr Keohane, but dismissed it if Mr Glavin paid €400 to the court poor box. File picture: Larry Cummins

A neighbour’s “belching kind of cough” at a time of high stress due to Covid resulted in an alleged assault that also saw the involvement of a Chihuahua/Jack Russell-type of dog.

Garda Dermot Broughton who investigated the case said at Cork District Court said: “There was heightened stress due to the unknowns of Covid.” 70-year-old Andrew Keohane said he was returning home from a walk while carrying a golf club which he brings everywhere with him. 

“I came up by James Glavin’s house. Himself and his brother were coming out his gate. I coughed and gave a bit of a belch. He put his left hand on my right shoulder, turned me around and gave me a punch in the right shoulder. He was shouting and roaring into my face.

“I said, ‘What is that for?’ He said, ‘You belched into my face’. I said, ‘I couldn’t have, my back was turned to you’. I said, ‘I am sorry I cannot help it. It is a medical thing.’ His mother said, ‘Leave him alone, James, let him go home’.

His dog was running over. He was down at my ankle. I was saying, ‘Go away, go away’ like that. I banged the club on the ground to make him go away.

“James picked up the dog, brought him over to my ankle and was banging his feet on the ground encouraging the dog, saying, ‘Go on, go on, bite him.’ He gave me a punch again. He picked up the dog and walked away. I rang Mayfield garda station. I could hear James saying, ‘You can effin ring who you like. It will make no difference to you.’ 

“I was literally shaking. My heart was racing, which I suffer from anyway. (At home) my daughter said, ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’ ‘I will’, I said. But the tea was literally shaking in my hand. I couldn’t hold it. I was shaking so much."

Asked about the incident by Inspector Margaret Murrell, Mr Keohane said: “I could not understand why he did it. I did nothing. Surely I could walk around nice and cushy without getting assaulted.” 

Sinead Behan, defence barrister, said: “This was a heightened time of awareness. It was known in the area you (Mr Keohane) had Covid and you were just out of isolation.” Mr Keohane said he was one week out of it."

Ms Behan cross-examined Mr Keohane on what she said gave rise to the whole incident: “As you passed him you gave a very large belch-like cough with spittle, it was very large.” Mr Keohane replied: 

No, a cough belch, a coughing belch, that is what it was. I said 'excuse me'. I didn’t belch into his face. It was then he just lost it.

Ms Behan BL said: “You made this cough belch with spittle in it in his direction.” Mr Keohane replied: “No. I said 'I am sorry I cannot help it'.” 

Ms Behan asked: “Would he have picked it up that you intentionally did it?” Mr Keohane replied: “Possibly. If he thought it was intentional we could have had a nice argument on the footpath but he just lost it. There was no need for it, absolutely no need for it.” 

Defendant testimony

The defendant, Mr Glavin, said: “He coughed and sprayed in my face. I said, ‘You are some scut – what are you doing?’ We’re here in the middle of a pandemic. He was just out of Covid. The dog - between a Chihuahua and a Jack Russell – didn’t go anywhere near Mr Keohane. He (Mr Keohane) said, ‘Now I have you.’ He went on the phone and rang the gardaí.” 

Mr Glavin said he did not touch Mr Keohane. Mr Glavin said that about a month earlier he had lost the top of a thumb when it was severed when closing a van door. He said his right hand was bandaged and the arm was in a sling. He said he had a bag of wooden blocks under this arm and a similar bag in his left hand at the time of the alleged assault on the neighbour. 

Cross-examined by Inspector Murrell, James Glavin agreed that at the time, “I was annoyed.” He said this was because of the cough by Mr Keohane during the pandemic when it was known locally that Mr Keohane was after getting Covid. But he said: “I never put my hand on the man’s shoulder or punched him. I never hit anyone in my life.” 

Judge Marian O’Leary dismissed the charge of engaging in threatening behaviour. The judge said she was finding James Glavin, 40, guilty on the evidence of assaulting Mr Keohane. However, she then said she would dismiss it under the Probation of Offenders Act on payment of €400 by Mr Glavin to the court poor box.

Ms Behan BL said: “It was an unfortunate interaction between two neighbours at a highly charged time. The Glavins were engaged in activity, Mr Keohane walked in their midst. Mr Glavin had an injury to his hand – the very hand he was supposed to have used to assault him. It would be unsafe to convict.” 

Insp. Murrell agreed that tensions were heightened. She accepted that with Mr Keohane’s evidence, there are some inconsistencies but they are minor. The inspector suggested that there was some over-reaction from Mr Glavin.