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Tyrone GAA star on ‘knife edge’

Thursday, 23 February 2012

Cathal McCarron.

A SENIOR Tyrone GAA player who admitted assaulting a traffic warden during an argument over a parking ticket is on the 'knife edge' of custody, Strabane Magistrates Court has heard.
Cathal McCarron (24), of Tummery Road, Dromore, pleaded guilty to charges of common assault, using a motor vehicle without insurance and driving while disqualified at Bowling Green, Strabane on November 25.
A further charge of dangerous driving was withdrawn.
McCarron is a key member of the Tyrone team managed by Mickey Harte, having scored two points in the recent McKenna Cup final win over neighbours Derry. The fullback was also part of the squad that clinched the All-Ireland Championship in 2008.
The court heard that the injured party, a parking attendant, was approached by the defendant outside Murphy's on the Green bar and restaurant after issuing a fixed penalty notice on his car.
The defendant was angry towards the injured party, the court was told. There was physical contact, but no injuries were sustained by the traffic warden.
McCarron then drove off, but the incident was recorded on CCTV cameras at Strabane police station, which is located near to where the assault happened.
Angry
When he was later interviewed by police, the defendant denied the assault, but accepted he was angry.
He also claimed that he had no knowledge that he was a disqualified driver. McCarron said that he had not been informed when the driving ban was imposed in Omagh Magistrates Court in August last year.
Defending barrister, Joe McCann, told the court that his client had not been present in the court when the disqualification was handed down, adding that there had been a "breakdown in communication".
Mr McCann revealed that the defendant had continued to make insurance payments of £100 a month between August and November.
The barrister also claimed that his client's actions on the day of the assault were not those of a disqualified driver.
If McCarron had known he was banned from driving, he wouldn't have parked on double yellow lines outside a police station and remonstrated with a traffic warden, Mr McCann said.
The barrister described the assault as a "fleeting confrontation", adding that there was minimal contact with the injured party.
However, he admitted that the traffic warden had just been doing his job and shouldn't have been harassed.
Mr McCann said his client realised that he shouldn't have become embroiled in confrontation and apologised for his actions.
'Accomplished'
He described McCarron as an "accomplished" Gaelic footballer for club, county and province, adding that he dedicated every spare minute to the sport, as well as his three-year-old daughter.
The barrister urged the judge to be "as lenient as you possibly can" on the defendant.
District judge, Norman Bates, observed that McCarron's record included one previous conviction for common assault, as well as several motoring offences between 2006 and 2011.
The judge imposed a two-month jail sentence, suspended for one year, on the defendant for common assault.
Mr Bates also imposed concurrent jail terms of four months and three months respectively for driving while disqualified and using a motor vehicle without insurance. These were also suspended for 12 months.
McCarron was also fined £250 and disqualified for four months on the no insurance charge.
Meanwhile, the judge said that a suspended sentence had also been handed down to the defendant in the Crown Court in 2010 for an entirely different set of offences.
Mr Bates added that it was now entirely a matter for the Crown Court whether that sentence would now be activated.
“You are really on a knife edge of custody," the judge warned.

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