A judge has dismissed an assault charge against law professor and barrister Diarmuid Phelan, saying the man would not get a fair trial.
Mr Phelan (57), also known as Diarmuid Rossa Phelan, who lectures at Trinity College Dublin, came before Judge William Aylmer at Wexford District Court on Monday in a special application to have the charge dismissed given the delays in bringing the case to hearing.
Mr Phelan, who was in court, appeared on a charge of allegedly assaulting neighbour Kevin McHale at Reedstown in Tacumshane, Co Wexford, on August 26th, 2021, causing him harm.
The case had been adjourned a number of times, with Monday set aside as a special day for hearing.
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Mr Phelan had been acquitted of murdering 35-year-old Keith Conlon at Hazelgrove Farm, Kiltalown Lane, Tallaght, Co Dublin, earlier this year.
Justin McQuaid, defending, told Wexford District Court that while the assault took place on August 26th, 2021, Mr Phelan was not notified of a complaint until December 15th when Garda John Coughlan texted him.
Potentially critical video evidence was not available to exonerate Mr Phelan because he had not been notified of the complaint in time, Mr McQuaid said.
The court also heard that a previous allegation made against Mr Phelan had proven to be false when gardaí looked at dashcam footage from his car on the same day.
He said Mr Phelan had denied assaulting his neighbour, saying he was acting in self defence.
Under cross-examination by Mr McQuaid, Gda Coughlan told the court that on the date in question the wife of Mr McHale made contact with gardaí.
Gda Coughlan said the injuries suffered were “minor”.
He told the court how on October 29th, 2021, he received a medical report stating that Mr McHale had received abrasions to the face and had complained of tenderness to the left side.
According to the garda, on November 23rd, 2021, the accused showed him a shirt which he wore on the day of the alleged assault that was torn and had buttons removed.
Garda Coughlan said the accused was never arrested, but by agreement had on February 2nd, 2022, attended Wexford Garda Station. He made a statement denying he had assaulted Mr McHale and that Mr McHale was the aggressor.
Gda Coughlan said there had been a history between Mr Phelan, who owned a farm, and Mr McHale, with Mr Phelan alleging his land had been trespassed upon going back to 2000.
The court heard there had been complaints about trespassing and interfering on the land dating back years.
Gda Coughlan blamed his workload for the delay in notifying Mr Phelan sooner of the allegation.
Mr Phelan told the court he owned a farm, both in Dublin and Wexford, but primarily lived in Dublin.
He said the assault proceedings had been very stressful, adding to the stress of the murder trial which he said was “very traumatic” and “horrific”.
The two were interwoven, he said.
The day after Mr Phelan was charged with the murder of Keith Conlon, Gda Coughlan made a statement about the assault allegation and sent a file to the DPP the following day.
Mr Phelan said he first heard he was being charged with assaulting Mr McHale during the bail hearing in the High Court in Dublin for the murder charge.
He told the judge he thought the matter was over after meeting and discussing it with Gda Coughlan the previous December.
In his ruling, Judge Aylmer cited the absence of CCTV footage, saying that Gda Coughlan had been told there was possible footage of the alleged assault, but did not seek to obtain it.
The judge said the footage was not available to the accused to support his defence at this trial and that he was satisfied on the evidence before the court it was not possible for Mr Phelan to have a fair trial.
He stuck out the charge of assault against Mr Phelan.
