A man and woman who drove to Keady following allegations made on social media were involved in causing £8,500 worth of damage to a car in the town.
Pauline Georgina Maughan, 24, and 26-year-old Patrick Christopher Joyce, both of the same address in McCrea Park, Clogher, appeared at Armagh Magistrates’ Court – sitting in Newry – charged with criminal damage and aiding and abetting criminal damage, respectively.
The court heard that on Sunday, December 18, 2022, police were on patrol in the Fairgreen Park area of Keady when they were approached by a woman who was highly distressed, stating that her Ford Ranger had been smashed up.
Both offside windows had been completely smashed. The windscreen had been smashed, and dents were observed in the offside door panels and the bonnet of the vehicle, as if it had been hit repeatedly by a hard object.
CCTV was obtained from an address in Fairgreen Park, which showed a silver Vauxhall Insignia drive past the house towards Fairgreen Avenue. Two people exited the vehicle and ran towards the grey Ford Ranger and attacked the vehicle.
A third person – Joyce – stepped out of the driver’s side of the vehicle after having driven the two people, and watched them inflict the damage on the Ford before all three made off from the area.
The victim and her husband provided statements to police identifying the defendants as those responsible.
Joyce was brought in and was asked a number of questions about what he was doing, and he remained silent throughout the course of the interview. He was asked if there was anything he wanted to add, and continued to remain silent.
Maughan made a “no comment” interview, and the CCTV was put to her, together with various questions in relation to her movements that evening in question and the statements of the complainants, and she made no comment to all of those.
Maughan’s defence barrister, Seamus Lannon, said the suspended sentence “to which she’s currently subject was imposed after this particular incident”, adding that “she now knows that her conduct needs to be addressed significantly in order to take her place properly in society, so that she can be, A, of use to society, and B, especially to her children.”
Conor Coulter, defending Joyce, said “some distinction has to be drawn in respect of his involvement.”
“He is the driver,” he said. “He accepts he drove from his address to this address in Co Armagh, which is some distance, arising out of allegations that were made on social media against his brother and his partner.”
Mr Coulter continued: “The initial intention was to simply confront the individuals, and what transpired, he will say, was not his intention at all…”
“He’s not someone who wants to be engaged in long-running or violent feuds within his community, and he expresses his remorse and his apologies to the individuals involved.”
The court heard that Joyce has eight previous convictions in this jurisdiction, all in the last six or seven years.
Deputy District Judge Peter Prenter remarked: “I’m not really going to make any differentiation between the two of you. I have no doubt, Mr Joyce, you thought something nefarious was going to happen, to say the least. In one sense, this is lucky. One hears of disputes between families, and it’s not just property that gets damaged, it’s people. In this case, it was an attack on a car only.”
He added: “This seems to be a ratcheting up on both your parts. In your favour, nothing has happened since…”
“Both of you did travel up, at least from Clogher down to Keady; now, it’s quite a bit of a track down, so you knew something was going to happen, to say the least. I think you’ve all gone down with a view you were going to damage this car, and luckily, that’s all that happened.”
Both defendants were handed 10-month prison sentences, suspended for three years, and ordered to pay £500 compensation each. They were given 26 weeks to pay.
