A MAN has won an appeal against a four-month jail sentence after he was convicted of causing criminal damage to his aunt’s car during an incident in which the woman was attacked by other relatives over a row about an inheritance.
Alick Staunton (37), with an address at Sycamore Drive, Bruff, pleaded not guilty to causing criminal damage to the car before an earlier hearing of Kilmallock District Court, but was subsequently convicted.
Mr Staunton jumped up and down on the bonnet of his aunt Elizabeth Staunton’s car while she was sitting inside the vehicle outside her house at Ballynaught, Bruree, on September 4, 2020.
Solicitor for the State, Brendan Gill, told the appeal hearing that the criminal damage incident arose out of “a family row concerning a perceived inheritance”, which involved members of Mr Staunton’s family.
At an earlier hearing in Kilmallock in October 2023, it was heard that Elizabeth Staunton sustained injuries in an attack during the incident, allegedly caused by others and not the accused. The total cost of damage caused to Ms Staunton’s car was €5,800, Kilmallock District Court heard.
Ms Staunton told the 2023 court hearing that she felt like “a prisoner in my own home” after the incident. She said she had not received an apology nor any compensation from the accused.
Mr Staunton’s solicitor, Robin Lee, told the 2023 hearing that the accused did not instigate the family row, but he came upon it “and got involved. He should not have but he did.”
Convicting Mr Staunton last year, Judge Patricia Harney said that while the accused did not cause his aunt’s injuries, they were “appalling”. Judge Harney said Mr Staunton was “jumping up and down on the bonnet of (Elizabeth Staunton’s) car while she was still inside it”.
At this week’s appeal, State solicitor Brendan Gill said Mr Staunton had not come to the attention of Gardai since the incident at his aunt’s house.
Judge Daly said it was very difficult for him “to assess the severity of the offence as you have not been able to give me a value on the damage to the car”.
The judge said he was satisfied to allow the appeal, and suspended the four-month jail sentence, ordering Mr Staunton be of good behaviour and keep the peace for a period of six months. He also fined Mr Staunton €200, allowing him 90 days to pay.
