THREE MEN were brought before a special sitting of the District Court in Tralee last night for possession of iron bars, criminal damage and assault charges relating to “a very serious” incident in the town on Thursday afternoon.
Garda sources have confirmed the incident relates to an ongoing Traveller feud.
The three Tralee men who were arrested and appeared in court were John Casey (28), of Clonmore Road; Bernard O’Neill (22), of Ballinorig Close, and Lee O’Brien (18), of Rath Oraigh.
Insp Martin McCarthy, of Tralee, said it was “a very serious incident and investigations were ongoing”. He said the State was objecting to bail.
Judge Angela Condon remanded all three in custody to Cork prison to appear in Killarney next Thursday.
Each of the three is charged with producing an iron bar in the course of assault and criminal damage, assaulting two men causing them harm — John Paul O’Brien and Michael O’Brien – and having “smashed up” a car, understood to be a taxi, at Boherbee on August 25th.
The court was told none of the three accused was in full-time employment. A large number of gardaí were in court for the hearing.