Fackinâ immigrints again innih.
His main âdefenceâ now are the free thinkers, that girl is getting an awful doing online
Online row between two gamers over Covid death figures led to real-life stabbing
Battlefield V
Tom Tuite
Today at 12:45
An online altercation between two combat video game players about Covid death figures led to a real-life stabbing, a court has heard.
Former friends William Cuffe and Rory Fagan entered Battlefield V via PlayStation consoles in separate homes in Moate, Westmeath, on December 30, 2020.
But the gamers got into a heated row as they talked on their headsets about pandemic fatality levels, Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court was told.
The argument turned violent when Mr Fagan, who was at a Church Lane apartment, drove to Cuffeâs home about half a mile away in Slieve Rua.
He was stabbed three times during a struggle.
Cuffe (49), who is on bail, pleaded guilty to assault in connection with the knife attack, and Judge Keenan Johnson adjourned sentencing until November.
Garda Hayley Foley told the court they had been talking on their headsets while playing the video game.
The pair, who had known each other for five years through gaming, discussed the coronavirus but âhad a disagreement over figures and how deaths are recorded.â
Cuffeâs friend started shouting, and the accused told him to fck-off. Cuffe claimed Mr Fagan, a father of two, warned him, âNever tell me to fck of f, or I will go down and drag you out the window.â
However, Cuffe told him to f**k off again and was expecting the victim to arrive at his house.
Five minutes later, Fagan turned up at his door to confront him.
Cuffe claimed he had got the knife from his kitchen as a deterrent because he knew the victim was stronger and angry. He told gardaĂ that âin a blink of an eyeâ, his gaming friend grabbed him and put him into a headlock.
âI said let me go, or I will stab you,â he admitted. The court heard he thought he ânickedâ the man once under the shoulder, and he claimed he did not intend to cause serious harm.
However, the court heard that during the scuffle, Cuffe stabbed Mr Fagan three times, puncturing his right chest, upper abdomen and lower right back.
He bled heavily but made his way to his girlfriendâs home and was taken by ambulance to hospital.
He had internal injuries and needed two operations. The garda said he was okay, but the wound had not fully healed, and he was back working, the garda said.
Questioned by the judge, she added that there was no evidence of alcohol consumption on the night.
Former bricklayer Cuffe had no prior convictions and had not come to further adverse attention.
Pharmaceutical worker Mr Fagan did not come to the hearing but sent a victim impact statement saying he was lucky to make it to the hospital.
He stated the knife punctured his stomach, lacerated his liver, missed a shoulder artery by a millimetre, and he no longer had a belly button.
He said he had anxiety afterwards and very little power in his left hand, changed jobs, and he and his partner moved from Moate.
In his statement, he said he was annoyed at Cuffeâs Covid scepticism, only intended to put him into a headlock and could not understand why he had the knife. The garda said the victim also has public order charges before the District Court arising from the incident.
The garda agreed with John Short SC, defending, that both men had been friends who enjoyed playing computer games and Cuffe had helped the victim with home renovations.
The officer also accepted counselâs suggestion that they were both decent men âcaught in a moment of bizarre behaviour, given that we were in the throes of the second lockdown at that stage, and it was impacting on peopleâs fragilityâ.
The accused told the court he was wrong and truly sorry. Cuffe, who is on long-term disability
as a result of neck and back problems, said he had not been in a fight since school. He maintained that he feared his friend, who, he said, was stronger, angry, and temperamental.
Quizzed about why he didnât stay inside, he explained that he knew he would have to face the victim in the town.
Further cross-examined by Mr Hayden, he admitted he still opened the door to the victim but insisted the knife was a deterrent.
Cuffe had references provided to the court, which also heard that he did voluntary community work. Judge Johnson asked for a verified medical report on the victim to be furnished, as well as a probation report on Cuffe.
2 Likes
The first 4 pages of the Irish Times is full of grim stories. The bottle fella, the doctor one, the taxi one and the soldier one. They seem to be happening more frequently now.
2 Likes
I think grown men playing video games should have been a major red flag here
9 Likes
The irony.
4 Likes
Whatâs the doctor one?
Doctor gets eight years for raping his wife
SONYA McLEANA doctor jailed for eight years for the rape of his wife âfailed to grasp the essentials and basics of consentâ, according to a High Court judge.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt made the remarks in yesterdayâs sentencing of the 36-year-old Leinster resident who was convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury of a charge of anal rape and false imprisonment at the coupleâs then home on February 14th, 2019.
The man had pleaded not guilty to the offences.
The court heard the woman immediately reported the rape to the gardaĂ. She left her home once the man had fallen asleep, along with her baby and went straight to the local Garda station.
The man was arrested the following month and told gardaĂ during interview: âI didnât rape my wife. I get it everyday for free. I donât need to rape my wifeâ.
Mr Justice Hunt said the remarks the man made to gardaĂ seemed to imply the man believed that âmarriage carries some kind of blanket consent to whatever he wants to have in terms of sexual activityâ.
âThis is not the way marriage works. Consent on a Tuesday does not mean consent on a Wednesday,â the judge continued.
Common thread
He said there was a common thread in the sexual offence cases that came before him of âextraordinary recklessness towards consent in sexual mattersâ adding there was âan extraordinary lack of care and respect that seems to existâ.
Referring to the manâs profession, Mr Justice Hunt said the fact that someone in a caring profession âwould treat someone so close to him in this manner would defy beliefâ.
Mr Justice Hunt set a headline sentence of 10 years after noting the aggravating factors included that the offences took place in a domestic context.
He noted the man had not recognised the juryâs verdict or the effects of the crime on his wife. He imposed a sentence of nine years and suspended the final year on strict conditions including that the man have no direct or indirect contact with the woman.
At an earlier sentence hearing, a garda told James Dwyer SC, prosecuting, that at the time of the offence, the woman had an interim barring order against the man which had lapsed.
She went to bed that night with the coupleâs baby and woke to find the accused at her bedroom door, summoning her to come into another room.
He asked to see the barring order, before he tore it up and told her she was going to be punished.
He told her to video call a man. He produced a dumbbell and ordered her to take off her top, photograph herself and send it on to this man.
The woman asked to go to the bathroom but the man refused and the woman ultimately urinated on herself.
He laughed at her, insulted her and anally raped her.
Afterwards, he instructed her to make him some food.
When he fell asleep, she left and reported the rape to the gardaĂ.
GardaĂ interviewed the man the following month, during which he asked gardaĂ if it was an offence to rape oneâs wife.
The garda accepted in cross-examination from Seamus Clarke SC, defending, that the man was on medication for a recurrent depressive disorder.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said there were âno words to describe the scars left by himâ.
âNo woman should be made feel so unsafe that she feels a need to run away in the middle of the night with her wee baby,â she said.
Mr Clarke said his client had written a letter âexpressing remorseâ and asked the court to take into account the consequences for his client of losing his profession.
What a horrible story, Jeepers.
1 Like
Hopefully heâll know all about it by the time heâs finished his sentence.
2 Likes
49 years of age. FFS
1 Like
One of them has two kids,
And he playing video games in his spare time 
1 Like
Mire blood on Coty joint winner tony holohan
Sky News reporting the Crotty Case over here. Big segment on it and the overall culture of the Defence Forces.
Itâs pretty damming to be fair
Aaron Brady loses appeal over conviction for murder of Det Garda Adrian Donohoe
RTE News just said they stole âŹ7,000, a Gardai dead and 40 years in jail for âŹ7,000! Hardly worth it.
2 Likes
Maybe the target wasnât the money. Maybe it was literally putting a shot across the SDU
https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0716/1460178-court-husband/
Nice to see an animal like this get life.
2 Likes
Melanie Greally is a tough cookie.
1 Like