DERMOT McARDLE who was convicted last year of killing his wife in Spain has been found guilty of assault at Dundalk District Court.
McArdle (41), Brookfield, Marlbog Road, Dundalk, was accused of assaulting Jenny Matthews at Haynestown Dundalk on January 9th last.
Ms Matthews, a photographer told the court she had been on an assignment waiting to get pictures of the defendant on that date.
She had been behind a hedge in a field across the road from McArdle’s house for about 1½ hours and had taken some shots of the house. While there she had noticed a child playing outside the house.
Later Dermot McArdle came into the field and ran towards her, grabbed her and forcibly took her camera. During the struggle she had fallen on her knee and been struck by the camera to her face.
She claimed that after taking the camera he had said: “You’re not so tough now without your camera”.
The court heard that when gardaí contacted McArdle he had initially denied the incident but later in a statement claimed Ms Matthews had given him the camera after he had asked for it and he had returned it after deleting a number of pictures including some of his children.
In evidence Dermot McArdle denied assaulting her and said he had intended to give the camera to gardaí after deleting some photographs.
Judge Flann Brennan said he was satisfied beyond doubt that Dermot McArdle had approached the photographer and had forcibly taken the camera and in so doing had assaulted her.
The judge imposed a three months sentence suspended for three months on condition the defendant enter a bond of €500 to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for three months.
Dermot McArdle was convicted by a Spanish court in October 2008 of killing his wife Kelly-Ann Corcoran (29).
Ms Corcoran died in hospital in February 2000 following a fall from the balcony of the couple’s hotel room in Marbella.
McArdle was sentenced to two years and directed to pay the couple’s two sons compensation of €60,000 each for the loss of their mother and a further €100,000 to his father and mother-in-law for the loss of their daughter.
Following a number of failed appeals against the sentence McArdle had been due to hand himself in to the Spanish authorities by September 15th of this year to begin his jail term but failed to do so.
An EU warrant has now been signed for his arrest. Defence solicitor Frank McDonnell told yesterday’s hearing that the issue of his client’s conviction for manslaughter was now the subject of legal process outside of Ireland.