Court orders Kurd to leave country

A Kurdish national has been given a three-year suspended sentence and ordered to leave the State within 10 days by Judge Cyril…

A Kurdish national has been given a three-year suspended sentence and ordered to leave the State within 10 days by Judge Cyril Kelly at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Bulent Ozcan (26), of Wainsfort Avenue, Thomas Bawn Court, Dublin, pleaded guilty to six assault and knife charges following an incident at Diggis Street, Dublin, on June 8th, 1996.

He admitted assaulting Ms Deirdre O'Callaghan, Edward O'Callaghan and Ms Alice Winstanley; possessing a knife while trespassing; possessing it to injure or intimidate; and producing the knife with intent to cause injury.

Four men were also given suspended sentences after pleading guilty to assaulting Det Garda Des Rogers and Ozcan in the Meath Hospital on the same date.

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Judge Kelly directed that a total of £2,000 brought to court by the men should be paid to Det Garda Rogers and ordered them to bring a further £500 each to court on February 22nd next which will be paid to the Meath Hospital, now part of the Tallaght Hospital.

He imposed two-year sentences on O'Callaghan (31), of Williams Place, Rialto; James Prendergast (42), of Abbotstown Avenue, Finlgas; and David Fitzpatrick (29), of York Street, Dublin; and a three-year sentence on John Donnelly (29), of Bishop Street, Dublin.

Judge Kelly adjourned their sentences to February 22nd, 1999, and said if all four had £500 each in court then he would suspend their sentences.

The court heard that Ms Deirdre O'Callaghan had met Ozcan while on holiday in Turkey and they later married. He followed her to Dublin. Some months later, a dispute arose when Ms O'Callaghan refused to sign his visa papers and she moved out.

The incidents in the charges arose out of a confrontation between Ozcan and Ms O'Callaghan in a bar on Wexford Street, Dublin, on June 8th, 1996. Ozcan left the bar but returned shortly afterwards with two knives. There was a fight between Ozcan and Edward O'Callaghan, which resulted in Ozcan being detained in protective custody in the casualty department of the Meath Hospital. The charges against the four men resulted from them coming to the hospital and assaulting Det Garda Rogers and Ozcan.