Man who knocked down burglar in court

hondasam

Doc Ruby wrote: »

Really?

If there was no kids in the house would you think he did the right thing chasing him and running him down?
Does having kids mean you can take the law into your own hands?

hollypink

hondasam wrote: »

I'm sure he is a very nice man but a man with a temper he could not control.
This might seem harsh I know.

Yes what the hell is wrong with someone if they get angry when someone invades their home, the place where they and their family should be able to feel safe.

gigino

The home owner should be getting compensation for having his family space violated. Why was he such a poor aim with the car.

Ficheall

Ace2007 wrote: »

this is similiar to the farmer who went back for a gun and shot someone a few years ago - farily sure he got jail

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_John_Ward

Conviction quashed.

tayto lover

hondasam wrote: »

If there was no kids in the house would you think he did the right thing chasing him and running him down?
Does having kids mean you can take the law into your own hands?

The man adores his kids and I do think it has a bearing on him losing his temper. I have known him for a long time and never saw him lose it before.

hondasam

tayto lover wrote: »

I understand and I also know that that burglar has a history of crime, some of it violent. If he had a knife it could have worked out even worse for the homeowner than it is now. he was mad to go after him but again how do any of us know how we would react in a similar situation.

Ficheall wrote: »

Quite harsh - I don't know if I'd call how one reacts when someone breaks into your house and steals your stuff a "temper". It's not like the two lads were just having an argument down the pub...

hollypink wrote: »

Yes what the hell is wrong with someone if they get angry when someone invades their home, the place where they and their family should be able to feel safe.

I don't know how I would react but I would like to think by the time I got into the car, started it, drove round looking for him I might have calmed down.
I certainly would not run someone down and repeat. This is what a thug would do.

Ficheall

Just as a matter of interest - of those who are saying that the homeowner reacted completely unreasonably how many have had their house broken into either while they were there or otherwise?

hondasam

tayto lover wrote: »

The man adores his kids and I do think it has a bearing on him losing his temper. I have known him for a long time and never saw him lose it before.

If you did not know him would you look at this story differently?
We are all capable of losing out temper, everyone adores their kids, it's no excuse.

tayto lover

hondasam wrote: »

I don't know how I would react but I would like to think by the time I got into the car, started it, drove round looking for him I might have calmed down.
I certainly would not run someone down and repeat. This is what a thug would do.

I honestly can't understand it either and as i said he has no history of violence. He just flipped obviously.

tallus

Ficheall wrote: »

Just as a matter of interest - of those who are saying that the homeowner reacted completely unreasonably how many have had their house broken into either while they were there or otherwise?

Been broken into twice in the last two years or so.

That driver deserves a medal in my eyes, and **** the legal implications.

Pity he didn't kill the bastard.

hollypink

hondasam wrote: »

I don't know how I would react but I would like to think by the time I got into the car, started it, drove round looking for him I might have calmed down.
I certainly would not run someone down and repeat. This is what a thug would do.

With respect, I dont believe you can anticipate exactly how you would react under extreme provocation. It's very easy to say how you should react theoretically.

Ace2007

token101 wrote: »

No his conviction was quashed and he was found not guilty in retrial

Ficheall wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_John_Ward

Conviction quashed.

Yes he faced trial, which is what should happen and the courts decide. people on here seem to think that he shouldn't have to face trial.

Show Time

Ace2007 wrote: »

but if it wasn't, what then?
would it make a difference, if it a fit of rage, he knocked down the wrong person?

But it was so your argument is not valid. He got the right man and he should be given a medal for trying his hand at pest control. The only sad part of this whole sorry affair is he did not kill the little sh1t.

The King of Moo

Ficheall wrote: »

Just as a matter of interest - of those who are saying that the homeowner reacted completely unreasonably how many have had their house broken into either while they were there or otherwise?

The man left his family to try to run the burglar over, after he'd left the house.

You don't need to have been burgled to know that while he was obviously angry, that was an over-the-top reaction. And a very illegal thing to do, that the courts can't be seen to condone.

Unlike a heat-of-the-moment violent action against the burglar inside the house, which would be perfectly understandable.

zenno

Gonzor wrote: »

And on top of that, his injuries weren't just as simple as two broken legs. As far as I am aware (open to correction) hes 'disabled' for life now over this.

what a bunch of absolute garbage. you obviously didn't see "said" scumbag on rte news posing for rte cameras, he was walking perfectly fine, nothing wrong with his bodily function. where are you getting you're information from ? the independent of warped news.

The King of Moo

Show Time wrote: »

But it was so your argument is not valid. He got the right man and he should be given a medal for trying his hand at pest control. The only sad part of this whole sorry affair is he did not kill the little sh1t.

You don't think there's any chance that, driving at night in an emotional state, he could have got the wrong person or hit someone by accident?

hondasam

hollypink wrote: »

With respect, I dont believe you can anticipate exactly how you would react under extreme provocation. It's very easy to say how you should react theoretically.

You are right we don't know how we would react in the same situation.
I cannot see myself running someone down in a fit of temper tbh.

Show Time

The King of Moo wrote: »

You don't think there's any chance that, driving at night in an emotional state, he could have got the wrong person or hit someone by accident?

This point is moot as he(nearly) got the right man.

The King of Moo

Show Time wrote: »

This point is moot as he(nearly) got the right man.

It's not moot. Just because he hit the man he intended to doesn't mean that anyone else in the same situation would have equal "success."

Bruthal

hondasam wrote: »

If you did not know him would you look at this story differently?

If this burglar robbed your grandparents house, and left them so traumatised that they couldnt live a normal life anymore, would you look at it differently if he was later ran over by another of his victims such as here?

Ficheall

The King of Moo wrote: »

You don't need to have been burgled to know that while he was obviously angry, that was an over-the-top reaction. And a very illegal thing to do, that the courts can't be seen to condone.

What did you do when you came upon someone burgling your place?

vard

Utter disgrace. I hope the case is thrown out.

Ace2007

Show Time wrote: »

But it was so your argument is not valid. He got the right man and he should be given a medal for trying his hand at pest control. The only sad part of this whole sorry affair is he did not kill the little sh1t.

How is it not valid, people are saying becuase of his fit of rage that his actions are allowed. so are you then sayin had he knocked down the wrong person, that he should be treated the same way? or does it make a difference.

When people take the law into the wrong hands, innocent people can get in the way,

tayto lover

The King of Moo wrote: »

You don't think there's any chance that, driving at night in an emotional state, he could have got the wrong person or hit someone by accident?

It was actually daylight. 5.30 a.m. on a Summers morning. He saw the burglar and chased him down the stairs but he escaped out a back window and took to the fields in the direction of a large housing estate. He had a good description of him and knew him when he saw him emerge into the estate. He knew he had the right man.
What happened afterwards was completely wrong but his blood was up and the burglar refused to give up.

Bruthal

hondasam wrote: »

You are right we don't know how we would react in the same situation.
I cannot see myself running someone down in a fit of temper tbh.

I bet this fella couldnt of seen that either, before the event.

LH2011

:mad:

realies wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0214/mccaugheym.html


A 47-year-old Dundalk businessman who drove after and twice knocked down a burglar, has gone on trial in the local Circuit Criminal Court.
Martin McCaughey from Mount Avenue in the town denies a charge of endangerment at Clann Chulainn Park on 27 June, 2008 and a charge of assault causing harm to Daniel McCormack on the same occasion.
Mr McCormack admitted to the court that he broke into the home of Mr McCaughey on the morning of 27 June 2008.
He said he was drunk at the time and when he found himself in an upstairs ensuite bathroom he saw jewellery and he took it.
He then heard a voice and ran downstairs, out a back door and across a field.
He ran to Clann Chulainn Park where he lived which was very close by.
The witness said he remembered being hit a car, getting up and being hit again.
Mr McCormack said he heard the defendant saying he would kill him if he got up again.
Both his legs were broken in the incident and he spent two and a half weeks in hospital as a result.
Under cross examination by Brendan Grehan SC for the defendant, the witness accepted he may have tried to rob another house in the area minutes before he went into the home of the accused.
He accepted also that he had committed burglaries in the past but that he had been treated leniently by the courts.
Mr McCormack said he could not recall if he went into the bedrooms of the three children in the accused's house.
He accepted that he would have had to go into the bedroom of Mr and Mrs McCaughey to get into the bathroom where the jewellery was.
As he ran from the house he said he could hear someone shouting but he did not stop.
The jury heard that Mr McCaughey was in his bare feet and only wearing boxer shorts when he drove after the witness.
Mr Grehan put it to Mr McCormack that his client was trying to stop him and box him in with his car when he was hit.
He did not stop the first time but the second time he was hit he sustained injuries to his legs.
The witness confirmed that he successfully sued the defendant and received €175,000 in damages.
The trial before a jury of six men and six women continues tomorrow.


:mad: If that was my house and I chased the burglar in my car I would do the same or maybe worse :mad:

sickening, so Ireland favours the burgular.:mad::mad::mad::mad:

NOT GUILTY your honor, give that man a medal!

hollypink

hondasam wrote: »

You are right we don't know how we would react in the same situation.
I cannot see myself running someone down in a fit of temper tbh.

The point is that what you can or cant see yourself doing is irrelevant unless you've been faced with something threatening like that. I'd like to think I would behave well in all situations but I am realistic enough to know that on occasion I might not live up to my expectations of myself, particularly under severe stress.

hondasam

robbie7730 wrote: »

If this burglar robbed your grandparents house, and left them so traumatised that they couldnt live a normal life anymore, would you look at it differently if he was later ran over by another of his victims such as here?

OK good point. I guess I would not feel sorry for him.
I don't feel sorry for this person btw, I just feel the home owner went to far.
I think he should be in jail not out robbing people.

The King of Moo

Ficheall wrote: »

What did you do when you came upon someone burgling your place?

What an odd question. I've never been burgled. Oh, and I don't have kids, before that comes up.

Obviously I can't say what would have happened, but I really doubt that if I had the clarity of thought to go through with the chain of actions needed to get to the point where I was running over the man for the second time, I wouldn't say to myself "I don't like leaving my family alone, and I don't want to kill this person now."

Would the red mist descend upon me if I came upon the man in the house?
Yes.

Would I try to hit him a decent blow if such an opportunity seemed to have arisen?
Probably.

But the red mist doesn't explain driving after the burglar and running over him twice, in my opinion.

Anyone would go crazy, but I'm pretty sure that I would not drive after and attempt to kill the burglar, as those are not the actions of someone consumed by temporary insanity and their protective instincts.

Originally posted by Tayto Lover
It was actually daylight. 5.30 a.m. on a Summers morning. He saw the burglar and chased him down the stairs but he escaped out a back window and took to the fields in the direction of a large housing estate. He had a good description of him and knew him when he saw him emerge into the estate. He knew he had the right man.
What happened afterwards was completely wrong but his blood was up and the burglar refused to give up.

Then surely he would have been driving recklessly, even if it was in daylight at a time when few people would be about.
You just can't do things like that.

Bruthal

Dudess wrote: »

All things considered, there is nothing untoward about him being in court.

No there would be nothing unusual or unexpected in that alright.