RAIL RAGE | 

Man (23) jailed for assaulting Irish Rail workers who asked him for his ticket

The Argus

Today at 08:05

A 23-year-old man who thumped a train driver and assaulted two other members of Irish Rail staff at Clarke Station after he tried to board a train without a ticket, has been jailed.

Tobilobao Ogedengbe, Mourne View Hall, Dublin Road, Dundalk, in September pleaded guilty to assaulting the driver causing him harm and to assaulting two of his male colleagues on August 14 last.

He also admitted being intoxicated in public and using or engaging in threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour or words.

Separately, he pleaded guilty to a charge of assault at Marshes Shopping Centre on July 14 and to refusing to provide his name and address to a garda at Castle Road on July 30.

The last day Judge McKiernan said she wanted to hear from the train driver about how the incident impacted him.

On the adjourned date, Mr Ogedengbe appeared via video link.

The driver told the court that the defendant said he had a knife and ‘threatened that he would stab us’ adding that he was a trained fighter.

The man said he suffered cuts to the inside and outside of his mouth. He was relieved of his duties that day in Drogheda and went home.

He missed work the next day. He had a sore mouth for a couple of days.

There were 17 previous convictions against the accused, including for trespass, theft and handling stolen property.

Solicitor Maurice Regan said his client’s offending began at the end of 2022 when he went off his medication for depression. A psychiatric report was available.

Mr Ogedengbe had ager issues. He had no support in Ireland where he had been studying Computer Programming locally but that had ‘fallen by the wayside’. His father was in Nigeria and his mother in Dubai.

Mr Regan continued that the defendant has been in custody since August 15. Bail had been refused in the district court. He didn’t apply for High Court bail.

In custody he has re-engaged with services and begun taking his medication again.

He apologised for what occurred.

Judge McKiernan remarked these assaults were very serious matters and couldn’t be tolerated. The train driver was carrying out his daily work.

The assault on July 14 was also a serious matter, the judge continued, and for that Mr Ogedengbe was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment.

For the Section 3 assault at the train station, a consecutive six-month term was imposed, with the last two months suspended on the defendant entering a 12-month probation supervision bond.

The sentences were backdated to August 15. The other charges were taken into consideration.

The court directed that he receive treatment and medical attention in custody.

Bail in the event of an appeal was set at a personal bond of €300, with €1,000 cash lodged