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McCartan
charged with Assault - 14/12/03
By TERRY McLAUGHLIN, DOWN DEMOCRAT
DOUBLE All Ireland winning medallist James
McCartan is to stand trial next March in connection with
an alleged assault on Westmeath’s Ken Larkin.
The Dublin District Circuit Court legal confrontation that
threatens to plunge the Gaelic Athletic Association into
the turmoil of unprecedented adverse publicity will take
place in the Richmond Hospital complex on March 3 next.
It is a sensational development that has now left the GAA
facing a future litigation minefield of terrifying proportions.
And it is the latest twist in a long running saga stretching
back to a challenge match between Down and Westmeath played
on May 23 last.
During the game an incident occurred that led to Westmeath
fullback and Trainee Garda, Ken Larkin being taken to hospital
with a broken jaw.
It is alleged that McCartan was responsible for the injury
after carrying out a deliberate and pre-meditated attack
on Larkin.
The Down player, with the total support of his team management
and his County Board, has always strenuously denied Westmeath
allegations that there was any deliberate intent to injure
Larkin.
The row however has left the Association Rulebook virtually
redundant in the wake of a New World where the civil courts
now seem certain to take total precedence over the mechanics
of the biggest sporting organisation on this island.
There is now absolutely no chance that until the court case
is resolved the Down player will take part in any disciplinary
hearing undertaken by the GAA into the Larkin incident.
The Down Democrat has learned that if the GAA try to force
McCartan into taking part in a separate disciplinary inquiry
by the organisation, it faces the very real prospect of
having a High Court injunction battle to negotiate.
An unprecedented offer by the GAA to have the controversial
disciplinary hearing held within the jurisdiction of Northern
Ireland has also been rejected.
Not surprisingly, given the massive stakes involved, James
McCartan is not prepared to allow himself to be used as
a sacrificial lamb on the altar of Croke Park expediency.
Anything, his supporters and advisers argue, that could
leave him open to prejudicing his court trial would be nothing
short of legal lunacy given the implications of the trial
next March.
In stark legal language the charge that James McCartan has
to answer is that under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the
Person Act, 1997 he carried out an assault causing harm
to Kenneth Larkin.
If found guilty, he faces the prospect of imprisonment for
a term of up to 12 months and a fine not exceeding £1,500
or both.
Last night his solicitor, Joe Rice, confirmed that the former
All Star has received a summons to appear in a Dublin court.
The retention by McCartan of the services of the Rice is
another indication, if one was needed, of the high stakes
involved.
Regarded as one of the most accomplished and polished Courtroom
performers, Rice has built up a reputation as Northern Ireland’s
leading criminal lawyer.
His involvement in representing clients in difficult and
complicated cases is reflected in the fact that he appeared
for John Gilligan in the Veronica Guerin murder trial.
The colourful Rice has also acted for a number of leading
figures from both sides of the paramilitary divide in the
North.
Mr. Rice said his client was determined to do everything
possible to clear his name.
“James McCartan comes from a distinguished GAA family. He
will be bringing forward witnesses to support his claim
that he not guilty of the charge against him.
“We want to take this opportunity to stress that if necessary
James McCartan is prepared to fight his case before a jury
trial.
“He was neither booked or sent off during the game in question
and is determined to prove his total innocence.”
The precise, forensic language of Joe Rice will be a significant
feature of the unfolding legal deliberations next March.
In sporting language the appearance in a courtroom setting
of one of the biggest figures in the GAA will have inevitable
long-term and far-reaching consequences for the Association
no matter what the eventual outcome.
In particular it will mean that the GAA will never again
be able to use the interpretation of the Official Rulebook
as a judgement of Solomon benchmark.
The perpetual smoking gun situation that the Gaelic Athletic
Association finds itself facing has been triggered by those
within the organisation that, for whatever reason, appeared
to want to single out James McCartan for treatment that
no other player has had to endure.
It is the latest instalment in a sporting drama that has
sparked the involvement of a bizarre side-show revolving
around three plain clothes Garda officers in a bungled attempt
to try and quiz or question or even arrest the Down player
while he was inside the corridors of Croke Park.
It was only the inability of the Garda officers to produce
both proper identification and warrants that enabled McCartan,
with the help of Down manager Paddy O’Rourke and County
Board Chairman, Eamon O’Toole to make what was, in effect,
his escape form Croke Park.
In the century plus history of the GAA no member of the
Association has had to face such humiliation in the headquarters
of the Association, by the legal custodians of the State.
The Gardagate controversy has sparked claims of double standards
being adopted by sections the hierarchy of the GAA in its
treatment of certain players when it comes to the issue
of implementing disciplinary measures.
Those that subscribe to the theory only have to point to
the case of Gerry Quinn in the All Ireland Hurling semi-final
between Clare and Waterford.
Quinn suffered a broken arm in that game. There were however
no calls to headquarters for anybody. Nobody saw anything.
There was no trial by video evidence, there was no recourse
to the huge battery of technology available on the afternoon.
Nobody was charged. There were no Garda officers making
day trips to Drumcondra, there were no disciplinary deal
making moves attempted.
In the context of the McCartan case it’s not difficult to
see how charges of an undercurrent of anti-Ulster bias have
gathered their own momentum.
For the singling out of James McCartan, it might be argued,
is simply the latest manifestation of the less than happy
state of affairs that exists within a large body of the
GAA, over the domination exerted by the Northern province.
The central plot in the McCartan drama will see one of the
legendary figures names in the recent history of Gaelic
football take the witness stand in a battle to clear his
name.
It is however the sub text of the sub plot involved that
promises the prospect of embarrassment and potential humiliation
for the GAA.
For it is quite clear that somebody with a very vested interest
tipped off the Garda about the exact time and venue for
the original McCartan hearing last September.
Three members of the Garda Siochanna, one of who had strong
work connections with Westmeath, did not simply materialise
from the ether of Jones’ Road.
That’s the problem with a smoking gun. When the trigger
is pulled the ricochet can go anywhere, not just at the
intended target.
The Dublin District Circuit Court legal confrontation that
threatens to plunge the Gaelic Athletic Association into
the turmoil of unprecedented adverse publicity will take
place in the Richmond Hospital complex on March 3 next.
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