Judge orders voluntary work and €500 to poor box for alleged assault at Cork apartments

Disagreements about chores carried out by flatmates formed the background to a case where the boyfriend of one resident was accused of assaulting another resident.

The defendant has been told that he will avoid a conviction and have the case struck out if he pays €500 to charity and performs a period of voluntary work.

Judge Marian O’Leary had adjourned finalisation of the case against Soloman Adebisi of Cnog na gCapall, Gould’s Hill, Mallow, Co Cork, for assaulting Vinicius Silva at The Elysian building in Cork City on May 25, 2022.

The judge told the defendant that if he completes three hours of voluntary work per week for 16 weeks and pays €500 to the court poor box, the case will be struck out.

Vinicius Silva said that he and two other men and one woman were living in a shared apartment at The Elysian. Each of them had their own bedroom.

“We shared chores, taking out bins downstairs but we started having conversations about people not helping with the chores,” he said.

“Around this time I ruptured my achilles, I had my foot in a cast and I was walking with crutches. I was working from home.

“I had a break from lunch. I decided to go downstairs for lunch.

“Hannah is one of my flatmates. Solomon is her boyfriend. He is not a tenant but he was staying in the apartment very often — he was not helping with the chores.

“There were a few discussions, it was getting aggressive… As I reached the bottom of the stairs, he came straight towards me — on top of me, frightening me to punch me. He did not punch me, exactly. He was shouting at me. I did not move. He said he would break my jaw if I was not in a cast or injured.

“I was really scared. I could not defend myself. I was on the floor, scared. I was saying to calm down… Hannah got a notice to leave the apartment. That is why they were not happy.”

He said that a short time later he phoned the gardaí, and they arrived.

Joseph Cuddigan asked Mr Silva: “Did you or your friends ever say to Hannah, would she bring female friends to the apartment?”

He replied: “Speaking for myself, I did not.” He later clarified with Inspector James O’Donovan that he had a girlfriend at the time.