A wheelchair-bound Dublin man has been jailed for four years for vandalising a house after allegedly being called a "cripple" by the occupier. Paul Meehan (25), of Lealand Avenue, Clondalkin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to violent disorder at Monastery Walk, Clondalkin, on November 28th, 1997.
Meehan's brother, John (20), of the same address, was given a 12-month suspended sentence for the same offence and ordered to pay £2,000 in compensation.
Det Garda Eddie O'Grady said that the pair went to Monastery Walk armed with baseball bats after hearing that a local man had referred to Paul Meehan as a "cripple". They smashed all the windows on the front side of the man's house, causing £1,000 damage.
Judge Patrick McCartan said that the four-year sentence imposed on Meehan was to run concurrent to a five-year sentence he was serving for another assault.