Man fined for punching a punch bag
Friday July 10 2009
It was a tale of the punch-bag that hit back. A Monaghan man yesterday pleaded guilty to damaging a festival punch-bag machine that he was playing with, after it struck him a blow on the jaw.
Paul Kelly, of Lisanisk, Carrickmacross, was ordered by the judge at the local district court to pay €1,950 to the owners of the machine, which had been in use at a recent summer festival in the town centre.
The defence told the court that when his client punched the machine hard and thought he was entitled to a payout, the machine suddenly struck him a blow to the jaw.
The lawyer added that in a fit of anger at what happened, his client then hit out very strongly, causing damage to the mechanism of the machine.
Kelly was ordered to pay for the damage he had caused, prior to a further sitting of the court on October 28. If he pays up, the judge said he would dismiss the charge under the Probation Act.
- Patsy McArdle
