PJ Mooney: Das Opfer des Überfalls ist frustriert, als der Angreifer eine Bewährung erhält

Another day , another eyeroll at the sentences handed out by Irish courts……..Was the „shure hes from a good family“ card played ?

A man who was violently assaulted by a high-flying company executive in an unprovoked assault has expressed his frustration at the justice system after his attacker walked away without a conviction.
Chris Brennan told how he was hospitalised after he was attacked by award-winning Wexford entrepreneur PJ Mooney while on a night out with friends in 2019.

Mooney, 44, from Barntown, Co. Wexford, punched Mr Brennan in the face and witnesses said he kicked him while he was knocked out on the ground in the late-night attack on North Main Street in Wexford Town on July 13, 2019.
Mooney was arrested shortly after the attack and charged with assault causing harm and Chris believed the legal process would be concluded quickly – however, he had to wait almost six years for the case to end due to numerous adjournments.

Mooney is a well-known entrepreneur who owns Gravity Construction, a leading asbestos removal and roofing company.

Last year, he was presented with a Business Person of the Year award from the All-Ireland Business Foundation and has won numerous other accolades for his work. He was also a medal winner in indoor rowing and has competed in the World Championships.

Chris and his husband Larry Mullet are originally from Canada but moved to Ireland eight years ago and have documented their travels through their ‘Gays around the Bay’ social media channels and blog.

“We’re from Newfoundland in Canada and we pride ourselves on having a really strong Irish heritage, so we’ve always kind of seen Ireland as home.”
They were visiting Wexford for the first time in 2019 when the assault took place.

Chris, Larry and two female friends had been out in a bar in the town that night where Mooney was also socialising.

“PJ had been talking to some of the group at the bar. Later, we left the bar to go home to one of our group’s houses and PJ was with us – but we told him several times he wasn’t invited.

“He wasn’t leaving and by the end of it he was making me so nervous the way he was acting. I told him again to ‘go away’ and he came up to me and punched me.

“I felt unsafe with him around us but thought he seemed like a regular enough person, that he wouldn’t hurt somebody in public with witnesses around.

“It never occurred to me that he was coming at me to hurt me. That’s why he was able to hit me completely square in the face. He caught me right off guard and I completely blacked out. I did not see it coming.

“All I remember is him walking towards me and I woke up on the ground.”
Larry said: “He went for Chris and punched him to the ground and kicked him on the ground. I was able to get in between Chris and PJ and pull him off but he continued to try and get at Chris.

“He was really trying to get to Chris. I was trying to calm him down and get him off Chris and the girls then came in and helped separate him from Chris.”
Mooney eventually left the scene while Chris was taken to hospital. He suffered a broken shoulder as well as injuries to his face, arms and hips.

“It was about six months full recovery for my bone before I could raise my arm properly.
“The physical reminder of the attack was six months but the mental reminder was every day for six years. I cried constantly.

Chris said he had been assaulted twice before in his life by men in other countries but never brought any charges as there were no witnesses or CCTV.
However, in this case, Mooney was easily identified by witnesses and CC footage.
“It was the first time I thought I am going to get the guy who got me.”

However, Chris couldn’t believe it would be almost six years before the case concluded.
“Every court delay was like it was happening all over again. It was horrible, it was so painful every time, how lonely you feel, how down you feel, you just feel it will never end.”

Despite the charge being assault causing harm, the case remained in the District Court rather than the Circuit Court, which has higher sentencing powers.
The case eventually concluded before Wexford District Court in January. While Mooney pleaded guilty, the judge left him without a conviction by applying the Probation Act.

Chris said he didn’t attend the court hearing as he thought it would be too traumatic and was initially given incorrect information on the outcome of the case.

“I was told it was a conviction and he got a one-year suspended sentence. I was happy and I cried, this was all I wanted – for him to say what he did to me and receive some kind of punishment. I was fine for him not to go to jail.

“I was happy I did my part to maybe deter him in the future from hurting anyone else.
“Then I was told that he got probation and I broke down again. I felt like I wasn’t believed and that I didn’t matter.

“I don’t think it’s fair that victims have to go through long processes with all the mistakes to then be disappointed in the end. There has got to be a better way for both the defendant and the plaintiff because the pain caused by this process was completely unnecessary. It didn’t have to be as bad as it was.”

He said Mooney wrote an email apologising to him and offered to meet him, which Chris declined.
“The case was delayed many times over nearly six years. The Gardaí told me PJ waited for four years to plead guilty just before the trial. If he really was remorseful I believe he would have pleaded guilty from the start and this would have ended years earlier.”

Chris also took a successful personal injury claim through the Injuries Resolution Board against Mooney.

“I did get paid damages through that, but he received no criminal punishment at all.”
Chris posted a video online this week expressing his frustration at the system and to let other people know how to mentally prepare themselves for the criminal justice process and was flooded with responses from people.

“I am completely floored from all the social interactions. I was really scared I would get negative reaction from people saying I deserved it.
“I had to prepare myself for that, but so far everything has been overwhelmingly positive with people sharing their own stories and things they’ve been through and thanking me for helping shed light on a problem.”

The Sunday World contacted Mr Mooney for comment on Friday and he said he would provide a comment later that day and was happy to be given the opportunity.

Under an hour later his solicitor issued Chris with a letter threatening legal action over his video and asking him to take it down.
Mooney later issued a statement to the Sunday World saying that some content in the video Chris posted was untrue – but did not specify what that was.

“Content contained in the referenced post is false, defamatory, grossly misleading and suggestive of homophobia which is utterly denied and completely untrue,” he said.

Just insane and disgusting. No justice.

PJ doesn’t like being told no