Charlie Bird’s Attacker Gets Jail
Posted on Sunday, March 9, 2008You might remember the Love Ulster parade in Dublin two years ago. That’s it: the one that ended in absolute mayhem with rioting and looting and complete anarchy on the streets. Yep. The parade through Dublin by Unionists, when the pavements were all dug up and builders had thoughtfully left huge piles of bricks everywhere for drunken thugs to fling at the marchers. Oh, and the cops planning the event didn’t seem too worried about these endless supplies of ammunition. It was one of the very first things I wrote about here.
In the middle of this riot, RTE’s Charlie Bird (Chief News Reporter!) was beaten up by a low-life called Graham Hanapy, who accused him of being an "Orange bastard", whatever that means. He fractured Charlie’s cheek-bone with a punch.
When arrested, Hanapy was drunk and extremely aggressive, but later agreed that he had been throwing missiles at the police and, though he had a limited memory of the day, also agreed that he might have attacked Charlie Bird. (Luckily for his limited memory, he was caught on CCTV and the cop who arrested him saw him doing it, as did Charlie).
Now this is the good bit.
Hanapy’s defence counsel told the court that he was disgusted by his actions, he’d taken large quantities of liquor and anti-depressants on the day, and he had subsequently lost his relationship and his job.
Let me just interject to say that I’m disgusted by the little scumbag as well but I don’t see the relevance of that to the court. I also don’t see the relevance of the fact that he was hopped out of his head on speed and drink. That only makes it worse for the prick, in my opinion. Finally, I’m not surprised he lost his girlfriend — or maybe it wasn’t his girlfriend: maybe his dog left him in disgust. And I’m not surprised the scumbag lost his job. Who’d employ a violent, drunk drug-abuser? And why is it relevant to his defence?
His lawyer handed in to the court letters of apology he’d written to Charlie Bird and to the cops, saying I’m very very sorry I was fuckin caught tryin to murder that orange bastard Charlie Bird.
I’m keeping the best bit for last.
Counsel also informed the court that Hanapy came from a decent hard-working family and that his seven previous convictions were for minor offences.
Seven??? Previous???
How many convictions do you have? How many convictions do any of your friends have?
Seven???
Oh for fucksake.
At least the judge had the good sense to give the vicious little fuck three years in jail.
___________________
Elsewhere
Stumble it!
March 9th, 2008
I just spilled my tea with the laughing! Some of it’s down my nose and I need a hankie. But for the record: I don’t have any previous and neither do my sons. But if someone let’s me hit Pat Kenny and get off ‘cos I have no previous, that’ll do fine.
March 10th, 2008
Good call that judge. What a thug, and not even a very good one at that, if he’d been caught 7 times previously.
March 10th, 2008
I thought he got four and thought it was a little excessive given the sentencing of grown men who kiddy fiddle.
March 10th, 2008
No 73. He got eight and they let him off half cause it was Charlie Byrne he hit.
March 10th, 2008
73man: He got four and was let off the last one. His sentence wasn’t excessive: kiddie-fiddlers’ sentences are too short.
March 10th, 2008
Bock, what struck me about this sentence was that it is so untypical. How many other cases do we read about where some person drunk or sober cracks someone else a few and they get 6/9 months suspended?
March 10th, 2008
It might have something to do with his seven previous convictions.
March 10th, 2008
He has eight now!
March 10th, 2008
we need more early intervention programmes. if only someone had removed poor Hanapy from his natural environment when he was about 6 months old and sent him to be reprogrammed….clockwork orange like..
March 11th, 2008
This calls to mind that other parade where mayhem happened and a bunch of harmless eco-hippy types with a bicycling agenda were set upon by certain members of the Garda on a bank holiday monday. Remember that? The guards somehow forgot to wear their numbers, yeah? And none of the guards could remember or identify the brutalest garda of them all? Guards must be taught a course in selective memory in Templemore.
March 11th, 2008
Conan: It was a bit different. The harmless eco-hippy types at the May Day protest were just doing harmless eco-hippy things when the police attacked them.
The guys who attacked the Love Ulster parade were a rabble of drunken thugs intent on causing a riot.
March 11th, 2008
You’re right, the guards weren’t drunk.
March 11th, 2008
As far as we know …