Pensioner used hammer to cause €10,000 damage to car after row about flower pots

Isabel Hayes

A 67-year-old woman who took a hammer to a man's car over a senior citizens' group row about flower pots has been given a suspended sentence.

Bernadette Murphy caused nearly €10,000 worth of damage to the car after a verbal disagreement broke out between herself and another woman, in what Judge Martin Nolan described as a “very odd situation”.

Murphy, of Greenore Court, Dublin 2, pleaded guilty to one count of criminal damage at an address in Dublin city centre on May 24th, 2023. She has no previous convictions.

The court heard the dispute took place between Murphy and another senior citizen group member over a garden area and some flower pots. The man who owned the car was the father of the other woman, and he attempted to intervene in the argument.

Video footage showed Murphy, who came to court with the assistance of a walker, laboriously raising the hammer numerous times and bringing it down on the man's car roof, bonnet and sides.

The incident prompted Judge Nolan to ask: “Does she usually travel around with a hammer?”

The investigating garda replied that Murphy procured the hammer for this purpose. The court heard Murphy was going through a divorce and “distrusted” men as a result.

She co-operated with gardaí and offered up the hammer without difficulty, prosecuting barrister Diana Stuart BL, told the court.

Defence counsel said Murphy had €600 in court as a token of remorse. The court heard the injured party paid €250 to his insurance company, but the remaining damage cost of over €9,000 was covered by his insurance policy.

Sentencing Murphy on Friday, Judge Nolan said the damage to the car was pre-mediated, but Murphy shouldn't go to prison. He handed down a sentence of 18 months, which he suspended in full.

He ordered Murphy to pay over the €600 to the injured party and that it should go to a charity if he did not want it.