Connacht Tribune
Women admit vicious nightclub assault
A number of young women involved in a serious assault at a Tuam nightclub, during which their victims were punched in the face and kicked on the floor, had their cases adjourned to the end of the year after probation reports were presented to the local court.
One of the three defendants is a Tuam childcare worker and when the case initially came before the court back in April, the sitting judge imposed a temporary ban on press reporting of her case because she feared it might impact on her employment.
Roxanne McHugh was one of three women pleading guilty to assaults on other women. The case was heard at a special sitting of Tuam Court on Monday, April 23, and Judge Deirdre Gearty agreed with the request and banned any reporting of the case until a probation report could be compiled and sentencing was imposed.
Those probation reports were presented to Judge James Faughnan at last week’s sitting of Tuam District Court and he lifted reporting restrictions in the case.
At the special sitting in April, it was heard how the three women were involves in a series of assaults on three other young women. The victims told the Judge that the attacks had left them fearful about going out in their own home town.
Roxanne McHugh with an address of Apartment 1, Fairgreen Heights, Tuam, Chloe McHugh Apartment 2, Fairgreen Heights and Rebecca Flesk, 2 Fairgreen Heights, were all charged with assault.
Rebecca Flesk pleaded guilty to assault on Veronica Brady, Lea Kelly and Niamh Collins in Geoghegan’s Nightclub, High Street, Tuam, on September 18, 2016.
Chloe McHugh pleaded guilty to assaulting Veronica Brady on the same night and a charge of assaulting Lea Kelly was withdrawn.
Roxanne McHugh pleaded guilty to assaulting Veronica Brady and a charge of assaulting Lea Kelly was withdrawn.
The defence barrister said Roxanne McHugh was a childcare worker, Chloe McHugh was on disability and Rebecca Flesk was a hairdresser.
Garda Emma Conneely was the investigating Garda and she gave evidence of being on duty on the particular night when she received a call from Niamh Collins.
She met her outside the club and she was in a distressed stated. Her nose looked broken and she was bleeding. She said she had been punched in the face by Rebecca Flesk.
She added that Flesk was in the company of the other two defendants at the time. Garda Conneely advised the victim to get medical attention and went inside the club to locate the defendants.
She spoke to Flesk and Roxanne McHugh, whom she said did most of the talking.
The Gardaí then went to Dublin Road and spoke to witness Deborah Brady. They heard that Veronica Brady was pushed to the dance floor in Geoghegan’s and punched and kicked. Lea Kelly’s mouth was bleeding as a result of Flesk punching her in the face, the Gardaí were told.
After taking details the Gardaí returned to High Street at where they found Chloe McHugh sitting on the footpath.
The Gardaí collected CCTV footage and medical reports on the victims and these reports were handed in to the Judge.
The court heard that the mother of two of the defendants, Colette McHugh, sent messages to a number of the injured parties and members of their families and this was brought to the attention of the Gardaí, who visited Colette McHugh, when she agreed she wouldn’t sent any more texts.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
