Vulnerable man, 66, was stalked in Cork City before 'senseless' assault, court told

39-year-old Jonathan Mason was refused bail on an assault charge

Directions in the case will be sought from the Director of Public Prosecutions. File picture: Dan Linehan

A man who has been accused of subjecting a vulnerable 66-year-old man to a violent assault with an implement after stalking him in the middle of the day on the streets of Cork City was refused bail on an assault charge on Thursday.

39-year-old Jonathan Mason of Farranferris Park, Farranree, Cork, is charged with carrying out the assault causing harm on a 66-year-old man at Great William O’Brien Street, Cork, at noon on Thursday, January 16.

Detective Garda Brian Holland said: “Jonathan Mason knows the injured party and knows the address where he resides — a vulnerable 66-year-old man. This was a senseless and violent act on a vulnerable, elderly man that was planned and carried out in the middle of the afternoon. 

"He stalked his victim and followed him and seriously assaulted him.” Eddie Burke, solicitor, said the defendant insisted that he had nothing to do with the crime.

Jonathan Mason said: “I am not a violent person. I stays in my nanny’s or in my partner’s in Charleville. I am clean of drugs. I’m on Suboxone. I pass that way (where the crime was committed) every day to collect my tablet next door to Watercourse Road garda station. I am willing to stay out of Cork.

My dad is the same age (as the injured party). I wouldn’t like that to happen to my dad.

“Your honour, why would I carry out an unprovoked assault on a person I didn’t know? I had nothing to do with it. I could have been close by at the time… I was shocked when I came out of the post office and got arrested. I am after turning my life around.” 

Judge Joanne Carroll refused bail and remanded Jonathan Mason in custody until January 30.

Det. Garda Holland said: “The 66-year-old man was walking on the footpath when he was struck in the face by a man which resulted in him falling to the ground and striking his head off the ground. He sustained a wound to the left side of his face from the blow and a gash to the back of his head from the fall.

“He was taken to hospital and received stitches to his face and staples to the wound at the back of his head. CCTV showed a man loitering on the road waiting for the inured party to walk past. 

“The man ran towards him and struck him with full force with what appeared to be a sharp implement into the face. He then got into a Honda Jazz car and fled the scene.

“CCTV monitored for the minutes beforehand as he stalked the injured party before the attack. He monitored the injured party from a premises on Watercourse Road and assaulted him on Great William O’Brien Street.” 

When bail was refused, Judge Carroll remanded the accused in custody for one week on the application of Inspector Brendan McKenna. Directions in the case will be sought from the Director of Public Prosecutions.