Man who swung golf club in row is fined for using it as a weapon

Jonathan Rooney (28) was returning from a game of golf in the Phoenix Park when he was accosted by the men and reacted out of fear, his defence solicitor said.

Judge Bryan Smyth fined him €300 at Dublin District Court for possession of the club as a weapon.

Rooney, with an address at The Kiln, Railway Street, Dublin 1, pleaded guilty to having an implement intended to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate another.

Garda James Smith told the court he was on duty on Parnell Street on July 28, 2020 when he saw the accused in an altercation with other men who were known to the gardaí.

Rooney had a golf club with him at the time and was holding it out, swinging it towards the other men, he said.

The gardaí seized the club and arrested Rooney, who was taken to Store Street station, where he was released pending a file to the DPP and later charged.

The court heard the accused was the only one of the four men at the scene who was arrested and charged.

On the day, Rooney had been coming back from playing golf in the Phoenix Park when he was approached by the group of men who had “some issue with him”, his solicitor Tony Collier said.

They were looking to fight him and he used the club to “intimidate them away”.

He was fearful and did what he did out of fear, Mr Collier told the court.

He accepted it was a serious charge but said it was an “unusual situation”, adding that the gardaí in the case had been “very fair”.

The accused had previous convictions from when he was younger but he had settled down with the arrival of his children, Mr Collier said.

He had done a safe pass course and was now “heading in the right direction”.