Three denied bail following alleged machete assault on Kilkenny man

Three men have been remanded in custody while one woman has been granted bail on strict conditions including that she stay out of Kilkenny.

Charges including assault, violent disorder and causing criminal damage were brought before the court, yesterday (Tuesday) following an incident at the Wetlands Halting Site last Thursday night.

The incident left two people in hospital - a man who suffered “a large gash to the top of his head” and lost a lot of blood and his wife who was also injured, with photographs submitted to court of clumps of the woman’s hair on the ground. They were injured outside their home, while their nine young children were inside.

Kilkenny District Court heard the couple were returning home at about 10pm on Thursday when, they said in a statement to gardaí, they were “viciously assaulted outside their home” by a number of people who arrived in vehicles. Gardaí were called to St Catherines, The Wetlands, at approximately 11.35pm.

The injured man told gardaí that one of the new arrivals had a “machete” and struck him on the head.

The injured woman said another of the men and a woman who is not before the court, pulled her hair out.

In court a garda said it had been an “extremely violent” event with “a lot of roaring and shouting.”

The injured couple eventually got back into their home and locked the door. They were in fear of their lives.

A person outside the home broke a front window in the building, using a hurl. A six-month-old baby was asleep in the room, one of nine children in the home.

The injured man needed stitches for his head wound, while the woman was left missing ‘chunks of her hair’ and damage to her little finger from an acrylic nail being pulled off as she defended herself.

The court heard from an investigating garda that the couple and their children are now in emergency accommodation, provided by Kilkenny County Council, as they are afraid to return to their home.

One of the men charged in relation to the incident lives next door and other accused people have family members living at the halting site. One of the men charged is the brother of the injured woman.

Four people have been charged in relation to the incident. Gardaí objected to bail for the three men before the court on the ground of the seriousness of the charges as well as other reasons explained to the judge in court.

The court was told there were no conditions under which the gardaí would be satisfied with consenting to bail for the accused men.

John Paul ‘Rocky’ Carthy, Ardboy, Bonnetstown, is charged with assault, violent disorder and causing criminal damage.

Michael ‘Ricky’ Carthy, Bay 4, Wetlands Halting Site, is charged with assault and violent disorder.

John Paul ‘Rocky’ Carthy, Ardboy, Bonnetstown, is charged with assault and violent disorder.

Having considered the garda applications and arguments in favour of granting bail to the men, from their solicitor Chris Hogan, Judge Geraldine Carthy denied application saying the refusal of bail was reasonable and necessary.

She acknowledged that the men were entitled to the presumption of innocence, but said she must also consider the integrity of the judicial process and the need to protect the public.

She remanded all three men in custody to appear again before Kilkenny District Court, via video link, on November 10 next. She asked that the DPP would expedite the matter.

Kathleen Delaney, whose address was given in court as Ardboy, Bonnetstown, Kilkenny, where she lives with her partner ‘Rocky’ Carthy, but who has now been ordered to move to a specified address outside the county, is also charged with assault and violent disorder.

She was granted bail on conditions including that she appear in court for every remand date, obey a daily curfew from 10pm to 8am, sign on two times a week at her local garda station, provide a phone number to gardaí and be available to them at all times, stay away from Kilkenny City and avoid contact with the injured parties or any witnesses.