He was treated in hospital and had his nose reset before making a statement to police
This is the Irish doctor who instead of mending broken bones broke his brother-in-law’s nose in an assault during a family holiday from hell in France.
Dr Sean Fennessy, a general physician who has worked at numerous Irish hospitals, also tried to lash out at his father-in-law but missed and only knocked the glasses off his face in the same incident, a court heard.
Dr Fennessy (59), with an address at Landen Park, Naas, Co, Kildare, carried out the attack on his brother-in-law John Cosgrave during a family holiday at Mr Cosgrave’s parents home in Puichéric in the south of France in July 31, 2018.
The case finally concluded in May, with Dr Fennessy being found guilty of wilfully committing violence and given a suspended fine of €300.
He was also ordered to pay Mr Cosgrave a total of €1,400 for pain and suffering, cosmetic damage and legal costs.
Dr Fennessy said he didn’t want to comment on the incident when the Sunday World called to his home this week.
“What happened with John in France, I really have no comment about that,” he said.
Mr Cosgrave, who was hospitalised with a broken nose after the attack, said he was happy Dr Fennessy was finally convicted but felt he got off lightly.
“I would expect a doctor to be fixing broken bones and not breaking them, no matter what the situation,” he said.
“He got away lightly. He was ordered to pay €1,400 which I still haven’t received. I would have been hoping for something a bit more severe, even a suspended sentence, but that is outside my control,” he told the Sunday World.
The Cosgrave family are from the Naas area, while Dr Fennessy was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, to Irish parents.
He grew up in Portland in the US before later moving to Ireland where he got his medical degree from Trinity College before starting his medical career in St James’s Hospital in Dublin.
He subsequently married Mr Cosgrave’s sister and worked in the US before returning to live and work in Ireland in various hospitals including in Naas, Co Kildare and Tullamore, Co, Offaly as well as other hospitals in the south of the country.
He works in general internal medicine departments which are focused on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of internal diseases.
The court heard that when the Cosgrave family first met Dr Fennessy they initially found the medic to a be a pleasant person, but later found him difficult to get on with.
In 2018, Dr Fennessy and his wife and son as well, as John Cosgrave and his sons, were on holiday together at Mr Cosgrave’s parents’ French home.
Mr Cosgrave said after Dr Fennessy insulted his mother on July 31 he was asked to apologise or leave the house.
“He ended up speaking really badly to my mother,” Mr Cosgrave said this week. “My mother was upset. She told me and I thought ‘here we go, it’s starting’.”
Mr Cosgrave said there was tension in the house the next day, with Dr Fennessy spending most of the day in his room and not engaging with the family.
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He then left to go for a walk with his wife.
Mr Cosgrave went to find the couple to ask Dr Fennessy to apologise for how he spoke to his mother.
“I was thinking what was the best way to tell this man what I think, but not to cause a scene in front of the kids. I got into my car and drove through the village to find them,” he said.
He spotted them in the village and approached Dr Fennessy.
“I said to him ‘you’re going to have to go back up to the house and apologise to my parents for your behaviour here’. He looked at me and said, ‘I won’t be apologising to anyone, don’t tell me what to do.’ He was starting to square up to me and you could see he was aggressive. I said, OK if you’re not going to apologise you’re out.”
Mr Cosgrave then returned to the house first and gathered up Fennessy’s things.
“I started to take out his stuff and started putting it in the communal bin outside the house.
“I said to him ‘your stuff is in the bin now get out’. I think that enraged him because he had to go to the bin and take everything out. A fella with an ego like his, I think that drove him mad.”
Dr Fennessy started packing his things in his room with his wife and John Cosgrave said he heard a loud bang coming from the room which he went to investigate.
“I ran to the room. Next minute I was greeted by him and he lashed out straight away. He punched me right in the nose. First of all, I was in shock because I’m not used to being punched. Then I thought I have to defend myself, so I grabbed him and pushed him on the bed and I was on top of him on the bed. When I pushed him there was a scuffle.”
Mr Cosgrave’s father, Thomas Cosgrave, then gave out to Dr Fennessy who became more irate.
“That enraged him and didn’t he reach out to give my father a box. He missed him and hit his glasses which fell on the ground. He grabbed him by the arm and my father had a bruise on his arm which he showed at the hospital.”
“The room was just covered in blood and I was covered in blood.
“I went out and looked at my nose. It was all bent over to the side of my face.”
He was treated in hospital and had his nose reset before making a statement to police.
Dr Fennessy admitted hitting his brother-in-law, claiming he was blocking his way. He said he punched him in the nose and said he had acted impulsively and had not really wanted to hit him.
Dr Fennessy was indicted for wilfully committing violence against John Cosgrave while the case in relation to an alleged assault on Thomas Cosgrave was dismissed as the magistrate said that attempting to commit violence was not a crime.
He appeared in the judicial court of Carcassonne in April where he was convicted of the attack on John Cosgrave.
