Defendant found not guilty of endangerment with van and shotgun attack against brother
The jury found the defendant not guilty of all charges
A jury has found a man not guilty on all charges after a two week trial at Waterford Circuit Court.
Paul Lynch (60), of Cashel Close, Clonmel, Co Tipperary, pleaded not guilty to three charges: Section 3 assault, endangerment with a vehicle, and producing an article during the course of a dispute, in this case, a shotgun.
He was accused of threatening his estranged brother with a shotgun, hitting him on the head and of charging his van towards him near his home at Glenpatrick, Rathgormack, Co Waterford.
His brother alleged that on the evening of of July 29, 2021, the defendant approached him wearing a balaclava and holding a shotgun, ordering him to get into a van.
The jury heard complainant took off running down the road and alleged that the van drove after him and clipped him twice.
Afterwards, he alleged, the defendant hit him on the head and told him: "Put the money in my account or you're a dead man."
The complainant conveyed himself to Clonmel Garda Station to report his brother. Gardaí observed that he had scratches on his arms and had wet grass stains on his clothes.
Garda Detective Emmet Dunphy took to the witness box to go over texts that were sent between the defendant Mr Lynch and his partner.
Phone records revealed that at approximately 3am, hours after the alleged incident, she missed a call from the accused. When she awoke minutes later she read a text from him stating that the Gardaí had "been on" to him.
In the text exchange, Mr Lynch texted that his brother "got a trimming". When asked if Brian was ok, the accused responded: "I don't know what happened nothing to do with me" followed by "I don't know and I don't care".
In one message, she texted: "For God's sake, your mother would turn in her grave, your poor mother only has two sons."
The court heard the brothers had a difficult relationship regarding the recent death of their mother and conflicts over inheritance.
In court, Detective Dunphy revealed that a number of messages pertaining to the incident were deleted on Mr Lynch's phone, but not on his partner's.
One of the messages deleted related to the possibility of Mr Lynch being blamed for the assault.
State barrister Conor O'Doherty BL addressed the jury in his closing argument, and emphasised Mr Lynch's previous comments to Gardaí, wherein he denied having left his home on the night in question. CCTV and witness evidence revealed that Mr Lynch drove his van shortly before 11pm that evening, and returned back to Clonmel at around midnight.
Mr O'Doherty said: "He's given you a self-serving account, using his brother's past against him."
Defence Counsel Colman Cody SC, referred to the complainants conviction in 2002 for larceny and asked the jury: "Can you trust the evidence from the complainant? The answer is an emphatic no. Is it simply inconceivable that all that could happen in a period of 30, 40 minutes?"
The jury of 11 men and one woman returned a not guilty verdict after a brief deliberation.
