Men sentenced for melee in hotel
Carlow Courthouse
THREE brothers and their friend were sentenced last week in Carlow District Court after they had all previously pleaded guilty to charges of assault causing harm during a massive row at the Woodford Dolmen Hotel, Carlow.
Shane Rooney aged 26, Lee Rooney (25) and 21-year-old Dale Rooney all pleaded guilty to a single charge each of assaulting two security men, causing them harm on 3 February 2024 at the Woodford Dolmen Hotel, Kilkenny Road, Carlow. All of the Rooney brothers have an address at 20 Park Avenue, Phelim Wood, Tullow.
Their friend Ciaran Doyle of 5 Templeowen, Tullow pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing harm, one of which involved a security man and the other being a woman who was filming the brawl on her camera.
Judge Geraldine Carthy heard in a court sitting in January that the Rooney family had been attending a country music night at the hotel to celebrate their mother’s tenth wedding anniversary when a row broke out in the lobby of the hotel.
Inspector Conor Nolan told Judge Geraldine Carthy that 22-year-old Mr Doyle was identified on CCTV striking a security guard and assaulting a woman who was filming the goings-on. The court heard that all three Rooney brothers were also identified on the CCTV footage assaulting the security guards and that they’d gotten involved in the melee out of a sense of “misguided loyalty to each other”.
Judge Carthy had heard that Dale Rooney had 44 previous convictions, including for assault, Shane Rooney had two previous convictions, while Lee Rooney had 14 previous convictions. The court heard that Mr Doyle had 47 previous convictions, including two for assault causing harm, one of which resulted in a suspended custodial sentence.
Last week, when Judge Carthy was finalising the case, solicitor Chris Hogan said in relation to the melee in the hotel that his client Mr Doyle was trying to pacify things and tried to get the phone from the woman who was filming the row, but then got involved in it himself.
Judge Carthy noted that Mr Doyle apologised to the injured parties and that when he saw the footage of the incident he said that it was “the stupidest thing” he’d ever done. She also noted that he had €500 in compensation in court for the two people he’s assaulted.
However, she also said that the victim impact statements were “stark” and that she wanted them to know that their voices were heard by the court. She then sentenced Mr Doyle to eight months’ imprisonment on each of the two charges and for the terms to run concurrently. When Mr Hogan asked her to consider suspending part of the sentence, she pointed out that Mr Doyle had already benefited from a suspended sentence in a previous case. Recognisances were fixed in the event of an appeal.
When sentencing Dale Rooney, Judge Carthy said that she was aware that the defendant was autistic and that he had ADHD but that “he still knew right from wrong”.
Solicitor Joe Farrell said that each of the Rooneys had €1,000 in court by way of compensation and that they apologised to the injured parties. He said that “no-one went out that evening with this plan” and that “things escalated quickly” at the hotel.
Judge Carthy replied that she had read the victim impact statements from the two security guards – a father and son – that the Rooneys had seriously assaulted during the melee. She said that the father’s impact statement said that one of the worst aspects of it was seeing his son’s head being stamped on and that the image “would stay with him for a long time”.
She noted that Dale Rooney had 44 previous convictions and that the charge before the court was a triggering offence. She then sentenced him to eight months’ imprisonment and fixed recognisances in the event of an appeal.
In relation to Lee Rooney, she said that he had made “extensive admissions” about his involvement in the row and that he’s identified himself, which was to be credited. She sentenced him to eight months in custody, but suspended it fully for 18 months, ordering him to engage with the Probation Service and to be of sober habits.
She also imposed the same sentence and suspended it for the same period under the same conditions for Shane Rooney, while ordering all compensation to be paid over to the three injured parties.
