Dog-owning judge offers to step back from case involving delivery man who kicked dog

The court heard the defendant was very apologetic, had contacted the dog owner and had offered to pay for any veterinary visits and to make a charitable donation

Sgt Paul Kelly said that the resident at the property noticed that one of his two shih tzus appeared to be “cowering” and then ran straight into the house to its bed, while the other dog was acting completely differently. File picture

Update added Sept 2024: Following an appeal in the Circuit Court in Cork on December 19, 2023, this case was dismissed under the Probation Act, Section 1(1), and the conviction set aside.

Original publication:

A judge offered to recuse himself from hearing the case of a delivery driver who pleaded guilty to kicking a dog as he told the court: “I’m a dog owner and have been for many years.”

Judge James McNulty put the possibility of recusing himself from the case to solicitor Killian McCarthy, who was defending former DPD driver Stephen Desmond in Bandon District Court. Mr Desmond, 33, had pleaded guilty to kicking a shih tzu belonging to a man in Kinsale and to whom he was delivering a parcel.

The householder spotted Mr Desmond on his home’s CCTV system kicking the dog as he entered the gate of the property while carrying the parcel. He then reported the incident to gardaí last October.

Judge McNulty was told that at 11am on October 25 last Mr Desmond was making deliveries and entered the gate of the property in Kinsale. He left the parcel outside, having rung the doorbell, and told the householder he did not need a signature for the delivery.

Sgt Paul Kelly said that the resident at the property noticed that one of his two shih tzus appeared to be “cowering” and then ran straight into the house to its bed, while the other dog was acting completely differently.

On checking his CCTV, the householder saw Mr Desmond kick the dog in the head and jaw area. 

'Apologetic'

During an interview with gardaí two days later Mr Desmond admitted he had kicked the dog and was “very apologetic” for what happened, adding that he had thought the dog might run past him onto the road. 

Mr McCarthy said there had been a previous incident where Mr Desmond had been blamed when a dog escaped as he had made a delivery. The court heard Mr Desmond had no previous convictions and had once received the benefit of the Probation Act.

Judge McNulty said: “I am a dog owner. So if you think that disqualifies me, I will disqualify myself.” Mr McCarthy said that was not necessary. He said his client had been working for a multi-national prior to the pandemic and had joined DPD in March 2020.

Stephen Desmond had a previous address at 21A Church St, Shandon St, Cork, but Mr McCarthy said he was now living and working in the UK. He said his client was very apologetic, had contacted the dog owner directly and had offered to pay for any veterinary visits and to make a charitable donation.

The judge gave Desmond credit for his early guilty plea and travelling to Ireland to meet the case. He declined the offer of a charitable donation and convicted Desmond of the offence, fining him €300. Recognisance for a subsequent appeal was set at Mr Desmond’s own bond of €300.