Four in court over Mullingar brawl

Four people, two men and two women, were remanded on bail when they appeared at a sitting of Athlone District Court yesterday, in relation to a public order incident in Mullingar on Tuesday.

All four, who gave Mullingar addresses, faced single charges of breaching Section 6 of the Public Order Act in Oliver Plunkett Street, Mullingar on January 12 last.

They were Michael Nevin, (53) of 63 Grange Village, 26-year-old Emily Devlin of 4 Springhaven Apartments, Thomas Nevin (30), also of 4 Springhaven Apartments and 32-year-old Kathleen Nevin, 63 Grange Village.

Thomas Nevin was also charged with breaching Section 6 of the Public Order Act at the A& E Department, Midland Regional Hospital, Mullingar on January 12.

All four defendants were represented by solicitor, Trish Cronin.

Gardaí Dave Hannon, Neil Donellan and Gary Power gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in the case.

Garda Hannon told Judge Hughes a volatile confrontation took place between two families in the centre of Mullingar at about 4pm on Tuesday.

It was alleged both families had been making comments about one another on social media.

He said the confrontation lasted between 10 and 15 minutes and involved both men and women, adding that “the women were as bad as the men”.

It resembled “a fair fight in the middle of a town” and up to a dozen gardaí attended at the scene, said Garda Hannon.

Six people were arrested and two people required hospital treatment, arising from the confrontation.

The court was told that members of the family and extended family circle had gathered the bail money, some of which was sent from Galway.

Judge Hughes remanded all four on bail of €500 each, with strict conditions attaching, to appear at Mullingar District Court on March 3 next.

The conditions include a curfew between the hours of 9pm and 7am, that they sign on three times a week in Mullingar Garda Station, remain alcohol/drug free and have no contact, direct or indirect with members of the Joyce family.