Belfast man '˜saw red' when century-old tree chopped down

Eamon Twomey snapped after returning to his home on Belfast’s Crumlin Road and finding the large perennial gone, his lawyer said.

The 53-year-old joiner admitted charges of common assault and criminal damage to the victim’s Volkswagen Amakok pick up.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard Twomey rang police last August to claim a neighbour had cut down the tree on his property.

Prosecutors said the defendant also drove his own car into the victim’s Amarok, causing damage to both vehicles.

The neighbour made a similar report to the PSNI about the incident.

When Twomey was arrested he replied: “I just saw red because me tree was cut down.”

Defence counsel Luke Curran detailed a previous incident when some branches had allegedly been removed.

At that stage Twomey expressed his concerns “through the proper channels”, according to his barrister.

Mr Curran described the unspecified tree as being a century-old and important to the area.

But Twomey took a different course of action when he came home to find it chopped, the court was told.

“He indicates that he just lost control and thought he would damage the injured party’s car because something so close to him and his wife had been cut down,” Mr Curran added.

After hearing details of the case District Judge Fiona Bagnall sentenced Twomey to the community service.