A North Kerry man convicted of false imprisonment and assault causing harm will be sentenced next month.
34-year-old David Elston of Croagh, Lisselton, was found guilty of the false imprisonment of Martin Keane, and assaulting causing him harm.
A jury convicted him on these two counts by a majority of eleven to one, but found him not guilty of the unlawful production of weapons and threatening to kill Mr Keane on the same night.
Mr Elston also faced one charge of intimidating a potential witness, the same Mr Keane, but this was struck out as the prosecution offered no evidence.
Mr Keane and another man drove to Mr Elston’s house in the early hours of 30th August 2021, after threats were made on social media due to a grievance from an earlier incident.
The other man, 25-year-old Seanie Ryan of 93 O’Connell’s Avenue, Listowel, had already pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Elston that night.
When Mr Elston was alone with Martin Keane, he set upon him and beat him, before dragging him into his house to assault him, causing him harm.
Mr Elston then took a video of Mr Keane in a bloodied and injured state, with the intent to post it on social media, before beating him further.
Garda Donnacha Coakley gave evidence that he believed Mr Elston would have killed Mr Keane if he had not arrived at the scene.
At his sentencing hearing, the court was told Mr Elston has 12 previous convictions, including four assault convictions, and he was on bail when he assaulted Martin Keane in August 2021.
Defending Mr Elston, barrister Richard Liston said his client accepts the verdict of the jury, and he is profoundly sorry for his actions and the violence he used.
He said his client has a good work history as a self-employed man, and has a son who’s everything to him.
Mr Elston, who was on video link from prison during the hearing, broke down in tears when Mr Liston mentioned he was missing his son acting in the school play.
Judge Sinead Behan said this was an extremely serious case, and considers taking a social media video of a bloody, injured man as an extremely aggravating factor.
After a brief consultation with his client, Mr Liston told Judge Behan he would like to seek a probation report to assist the court with his sentencing.
Mr Elston was remanded in custody to the 16 January, for finalisation of his sentence.
