A motorist who carried out a “spontaneous and dreadful” road rage attack on a 64-year-old cyclist has had his jail term replaced with a fully suspended sentence and his driving ban lifted on appeal.
Judge Simon McAleese ordered Glen Corcoran (30) to pay €15,000 to the family of the victim, who the court heard has has since passed away due to an unrelated illness.
The judge had earlier noted that jails are “bursting at the seams”, with some prisoners sleeping on the floor and others being released early.
Corcoran, with an address on Keeper Road, Drimnagh, was convicted in the District Court of assault contrary to section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.
He was given a custodial sentence of ten months with one month suspended, a five-year driving ban and was ordered to pay €10,000 in compensation to the injured party. He was also ordered to complete a course of education and psychological counselling and to not have any contact with the injured party.
Corcoran later lodged an appeal against the severity of his sentence.
Sergeant Caolan Devane told the District Court Appeals Court that on December 1, 2022 he responded to an incident on Drimnagh Road in Dublin’s south inner city.
He said that the injured party, who was a pedal cyclist, was assaulted by the driver of a vehicle as a result of a verbal dispute.
Sgt Devane said that the injured party received medical treatment at the scene. He said that the next day, he located and seized the car involved and downloaded CCTV footage of the incident.
The sergeant said that the injured party was 64 years old at the time, while Corcoran was 26. He said that the injured party had sustained a gash to his forehead.
The grandson of the victim told the court that the incident impacted his family a lot and that they lived in a state of anxiety for his grandfather.
He said that his grandfather later got cancer, but prior to that he had been put in fear.
His grandson said that the victim had been active and fit and loved spending time with his grandchildren. However, he said that after the incident, his grandfather didn’t like to do outdoors activites as much due to his anxiety.
Defence counsel for Corcoran, Lydia Daly BL, said that her client pleaded guilty in the District Court and had no previous convictions for assault.
Ms Daly said that the incident was a verbal dispute which got heated and was out of character for her client.
She said that her client has completed an anger management course and is very apologetic for his actions.
Judge McAleese said that he was appalled by what he had seen in the footage. He said that Corcoran “clearly deserves” to go to jail but questioned if any good would come of that.
The judge said that he could order a custodial sentence “at the drop of a hat” but it was more difficult to come up with a variation which results in the defendant receiving a “very substantial and expensive lesson”.
The judge noted that jails are “bursting at the seams”, with some prisoners sleeping on the floor and others being released early.
Judge McAleese said that this was an incident of “spontaneous and dreadful” road rage as described by the sergeant.
“You’re half his age,” he told Corcoran in reference to the victim, adding that the viciousness of the attack was “chilling to behold”.
However, Judge McAleese decided to suspend the ten-month sentence for a period of two years on the condition that Corcoran keeps the peace and pays €15,000 in compensation to the deceased man’s family.
He also decided to lift Corcoran’s driving ban and told him to make sure it never happened again.