A senior counsel went "over the top" when he waved a sword in the face of a motorist he believed intended setting him up for a bogus insurance claim, a judge said yesterday.
Judge Elizabeth Dunne said James Gilhooly, a senior counsel, had assaulted Mr Shane Byrne, and held him prisoner at sword point.
Mr Byrne, of Fancourt Heights, Balbriggan, Co Dublin, had sued Gilhooly, of Cave's Strand, Sea Road, Malahide, for damages for assault and wrongful imprisonment.
He told his counsel, Mr Conor Bowman, that during a dispute over a traffic incident in Main Street, Malahide, Gilhooly had taken a fencing sabre from the boot of his car, and swished it in front of him, threatening he would "slice my f---ing face off".
Mr Byrne said Gilhooly told him he would hold him until the guards came. "I froze on the spot. He put it up under my chin, and started swishing it in front of my face. I feared for my life."
In cross-examination, he denied having accused Gilhooly of hitting his car in a parking incident, and knocking off the rear bumper.
Garda Cliona Ryan told the court she was called to a traffic incident on August 26th, 1999. The first thing she had seen was Gilhooly waving a sword in front of Mr Byrne's face.
She had taken possession of it, and had charged Gilhooly with assault. He was convicted and fined in the District Court, a decision affirmed by the Circuit Court on appeal.
Gilhooly said he practised in the Four Courts, and had experience of many totally unmeritorious traffic claims. He had been returning to his parked car when Mr Byrne approached him, pointing to his bumper and saying: "You must have hit my car."
He said: "It seemed to me like an insurance set-up, and I made it clear I wasn't going to entertain any such allegation."
He had walked to the Garda station, and reported he was being blamed for damaging a car. As he returned, Mr Byrne had barged into him, and he (Gilhooly) had wagged his finger at him with a warning he was not going to get away with a deliberate assault.
"He snarled at me, and said, 'you point that finger at me one more time and I'll f---ing break it'," Gilhooly told the court.
Gilhooly said he considered he was in danger. "I took out my fencing sabre, and swished it towards him to keep him at a distance."
Awarding Mr Byrne €4,000 damages, Judge Dunne said there had been considerable conflict of evidence between the parties, but she accepted Mr Byrne's version of the sword having been waved in his face.