*Daragh Hassett.
A JUDGE has said a witness crossed a line when allegedly threatening a solicitor in court.
At Ennis District Court, Judge Fiona Brennan told West Clare man, Thomas Darcy that she was referring the comments he made from the witness box to Ennis based solicitor, Daragh Hassett to An Garda Siochána.
Darcy said to the solicitor, “I know who you are and I know where you live”.
Mr Darcy denied in court that he had threatened Mr Hassett and told Judge Brennan that he got excited in the witness box. He said, “I can’t help it like”.
In response, Judge Brennan said, “Mr Darcy, there is a difference between getting excited and threatening a solicitor in court doing his job. You have crossed a line sir. You have done that in court under oath and I will leave the matter with the local Gardaí”.
Mr Darcy was an eye witness in a case to an assault causing harm by neighbour, Michael Fear (55) of Ballard Rd, Miltown Malbay on Mr Darcy’s son, Darren Egan on May 17th 2024 at Ballard Rd, Miltown Malbay
Mr Hassett was representing Mr Fear and was cross-examining Mr Darcy on his eye witness testimony when Mr Darcy told him “I know who you are and I know where you live”.
Mr Hassett put it to him that Mr Darcy’s response to a straightforward question “is to threaten me in court by saying ‘I know where you live’”.
Mr Darcy replied, “No”.
Asked by Mr Hassett why where he lives is relevant, Mr Darcy said, “I just know where you live like”.
Mr Hassett said, “You are threatening a court officer”.
In reply, Mr Darcy said, “No, no. I’m not, I’m not, I’m not. I used to have a job with the bins, that’s how I know where you live”.
Mr Hassett asked, “Why would you say that”.
Mr Darcy said, “I just said it like”.
Mr Hassett commented, “Extraordinary”.
In his closing submission in the case, Mr Hassett told Judge Brennan, “You saw Mr Darcy in the witness box – I have not seen anything like in almost 30 years as a solicitor representing clients in this court-house”.
Mr Hassett said, “I have dealt with very difficult cases over the years, as you have judge, but what Mr Darcy had to say when put under pressure crossed a line and it is not beyond possibility having seen him in action that he would influence his son to put him up to this”.
He said, “The best evidence in all cases is what you see in court and you see how Mr Darcy, who claims he witnessed the incident, behaves when people don’t agree with him – when you peel away the veneer he turns on you, can become quite nasty and is well capable of putting his son up to this in order to get Mr Fear removed from the area”.
In delivering her judgement in the case, Judge Brennan found Mr Fear guilty of the assault causing harm of Mr Egan but stated that “I am disregarding Mr Darcy’s evidence in its entirety for the purpose of his prosecution and I found his evidence unhelpful and I could not deal with his evidence with any degree of credence”.
Judge Brennan said, “I am leaving the allegations and references that were personal to Daragh Hassett to local authorities to deal with”.
Judge Brennan said that she found the evidence of Darren Egan concerning the assault to be credible and imposed a 120 hour community service order on Mr Fear for the assault.
In a statement today, the Law Society stated it did not wish to comment on any individual case where the matter has been referred to the Gardaí.
However, speaking generally, a spokeswoman said, “Solicitors play a vital role in the administration of justice and should be able to perform their duties without fear or harm. Any threat to them is an attack on the legal rights of every person, and undermines the very foundation of our legal system and the rule of law”.
The spokeswoman added, “The Law Society stands firmly behind all solicitors who are subjected to threats and intimidation for simply doing their job. We will not tolerate any attempt to undermine the legal system. Those who engage in threatening or intimidatory behaviour towards legal professionals must be held to account for their actions”.
