A 32-year-old electrical engineer who told gardai that he had been "tortured" all of his life by two his older brothers has been found not guilty of assault causing serious harm to them.
William Brennan hugged his senior counsel after he was cleared of two charges of assault causing serious harm to his brothers John and Jerry Brennan Jnr.
The prosecution evidence was that William had stabbed his two brothers on 17 August 2024 at Ballyhalwick, Dunmanway in Co Cork.
The jury of eight men and four women at Cork Circuit Criminal Court also found him not guilty of producing a knife at Ballyhalwick on the same date.
All three verdicts were unanimous. The jury deliberated for 90 minutes.
The jury had heard the voice of William Brennan on car dashcam footage several hours after an excavator he owned had been burned out on 17 August 2024.
William Brennan was recorded saying "someone dies today" and "they must be put down."
When asked about what he said on the dashcam footage William Brennan insisted that "they must be put down" was not a reference to his brothers.
Instead, he maintained that he was talking about ducts in a shed that needed to go down.
He said that when he said "someone dies today" he was talking about the state of the road he and his father were travelling on that day.
William said that the car was shaking from side to side.
There was no defence evidence in the case.
However, the jury had heard evidence in relation to garda interviews which were undertaken with William on 18 August 2024.
The jury heard that William claimed that that he only acted to defend himself after he was attacked by his brothers when he went to their shared yard in Ballyhalwick.
He said that Jerry Jnr had insulted him.
He indicated that his brother John charged at him from behind and he received a blow to the head.
William said that Jerry Jnr then punched him in the head repeatedly.
He claimed that his two older brothers had a history of keeping weapons such as cross bows at the property.
He told gardaí that he found a knife at the property several days earlier and kept it as he feared that his brothers would use it on him.
'I was being attacked by the person in the balaclava'
William said that he pulled out the knife when he was being attacked in a bid to defend himself.
"I was being attacked by the person in the balaclava. I waved it (the knife) left and right twice and then everything stopped."
He said that the person in the balaclava removed it from his head. He then realised that it was his brother John.
He said that his parents had felt the need to purchase an external post box as they were of the belief that Jerry and John would set their home on fire.
William described his family situation as complicated.
He said that he had suffered years of "turmoil" at the hands of his brothers whom he stated were asked to leave the family home in 2019.
"Jerry Jnr was always breaking his own arm from fighting (with people). I was Jerry’s stress release point as a child. I was just a punch bag. I have a life not worth living. There is no light at the end of the tunnel."
He said that over the years he had had hot water poured on his legs by his brothers.
"I’ve had 31 years of torture. All I want in my life is peace."
He had told gardai that he feared losing his "job and career" following his arrest.
William had told gardai that his job was his means of getting away from his brothers.
The 32-year-old of Longbridge, Ballyhalwick, Dunmanway said that that his two older brothers had been nothing but trouble for his parents.
'A completely unprovoked attack'
Meanwhile, the brothers, who are both marine engineers, had testified that William had set upon them in the yard in a completely unprovoked attack.
John Brennan had said in evidence at the five-day trial that the scene at Ballyhalwick on the evening of 17 August 2024 was "like something from a horror movie".
John testified that he came out of a container in the yard that evening to see blood pumping from his brother Jerry’s left arm after William stabbed him.
He said that William then stabbed him in the chest.
John stated that he and Jerry Jnr had run for their lives out of the yard.
He also claimed that their father Jerry Snr was at the entrance to the yard and would not give him the keys to his car so that they could go to hospital.
Jerry Brennan Jnr testified that he had limited use of his left arm since the night of 17 August 2024.
Emergency medicine specialist Dr Jason van der Velde also gave evidence at the trial.
He said he thought that he thought that John Brennan might die from his injuries when he medically assessed him at Dunmanway Community Hospital on the evening of 17 August 2024.
He said that John had a stab wound to his right chest "which was actively hissing" whilst he suspected that a "lung had been breached".
The medic said that that Jerry Jnr had an active bleed from his left upper arm and that he applied a medical tourniquet to halt the bleeding.
Dr Van der Velde also travelled to Ballyhalwick on the evening of 17 August 2024 where he medically assessed William Brennan.
He said that William had defensive wounds to his left forearm and to his right arm "consistent with blunt force trauma by a heavy object."
William Brennan was defended by senior counsel Jane Hyland.
In her cross examination of John Brennan, she put it to him that he had been "bound to the peace" at the time of the alleged incident.
He agreed that that was the case and said that he had been convicted of assault.
However, he claimed he had been acting in self-defence.
He told the jury that he had received the assault conviction after he punched his father Jerry Snr.
He said that his father had tried to cut his fingers off with a grinder.
Ms Hyland said that Jerry Brennan Jnr had at one point thrown his brother William from a roof.
She also said that on another occasion William had suffered a dent in the head after he was attacked by his brother Jerry.
Both brothers had denied ever causing harm to William.
Ms Hyland insisted that her client had only gone to the property that evening to pick up circus related memorabilia which his father had stored there.
Ms Hyland had told the jury that there was a long history of difficulties between the parties and that the family were "in and out of court".
