Retired tradesman avoids jail for driving with Lidl manager on car bonnet after checkout row

The court heard he told gardaí: 'What can I say? At least no-one was hurt. I was panicked.'

Garda James Downey told a sitting of Wicklow Circuit Criminal Court that there had been an issue between the Lidl store’s assistant manager and the accused in relation to the payment for a small item. File picture

A retired tradesman has avoided prison over an incident in a supermarket car park in Wicklow Town in which he drove a short distance with a store manager on the bonnet of his vehicle following a row at a checkout.

Thomas O’Connor, aged 67, of Two Mile House, Ballinteskin, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty to a charge of endangerment over the incident at the Lidl supermarket on Rathnew Road, Co Wicklow, on July 3, 2023, contrary to Section 13 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.