Ben O’Brien (32) was ‘highly intoxicated when he angrily left his house and picked a fight’

Ben O’Brien

A Drogheda businessman, whom the Criminal Assets Bureau linked to the Price-Maguire Organised Crime Group involved in the Drogheda gang feud, has been jailed for one year for a violent attack on two innocent men.

Ben O’Brien (32), of Hardman’s Garden in Drogheda was “highly intoxicated when he angrily left his house and picked a fight with two innocent men,” Judge Dara Hayes said at Dundalk Circuit Court.

His brother Sean O’Brien (29), also of Hardman’s Garden, was given a two-year suspended sentence and 150 hours of community service work for his lesser role in the incident while their pal Simon Sackey (31) of Nun’s Walk in Drogheda was given a one-year prison sentence as well as 200 hours community service work.

The O’Brien brothers’ dad Derek Kavanagh, aged 59, also of Hardman’s Garden, was previously given 100 hours of community service work for an offence of a breach of the peace during the incident.

The court heard the two victims were leaving Peggy Moore’s pub in the town at around 4am on May 1, 2023 when Ben O’Brien approached them while they were waiting on a taxi, the court heard.

Ben O’Brien then “looked for a fight” with the two victims. The victims were punched and kicked by Ben O’Brien before Sackey, Sean O’Brien and Derek Kavanagh arrived on the scene.

The court heard the four defendants thought the innocent victims had started the row but the court was told the violence was started by Ben O’Brien.

Judge Hayes said Sackey “exasperated the situation” when he knocked one of the victims unconscious and then Ben O’Brien kicked him in the head while he was on the ground.

That victim was left with a fractured eye socket and cheekbone, his two front teeth were broken and air was trapped in his brain. Sackey also attacked the second victim leaving him with bruising to his face and body. Both victims received hospital treatment.

The attack lasted one minute and CCTV captured it, the court heard.

Judge Hayes said it was “only a matter of good fortune whether the result was fatal or permanent life-changing injuries but a full recovery was made. It could have been so much worse.”

The court heard that Ben O’Brien, who has 11 previous road traffic convictions, has a history of significant substance abuse, is a businessman in the town employing 30 people, provides accommodation for people with autism and has plans to build social housing.

He also provided playing kits and training gear for a local children’s football club in the town.

“He described himself as a party boy, a regular visitor to Ibiza, has mental health issues and a history of substantial cocaine abuse,” Judge Hayes noted.

“The others didn’t know Ben was the instigator but none of the three paused to ascertain the situation,” the judge also noted.

The court heard Ben O’Brien gave the two victims a total of €17,000 as a token of restitution and is prepared to make further restitution.

The court heard Sackey, who has two previous minor convictions, went to the Kavanagh O’Brien house to “calm Ben down” and has a low risk of engaging in future violence and that it was out of character.

The court heard Sean O’Brien, who has one road traffic conviction, was “always worried about his brother Ben, had no role in the blow that knocked one of the victims out, has a low risk of future violence and wrote a letter of remorse

The court also heard Derek Kavanagh “did take part” but it was a minor breach of the peace.

Imposing the sentences, Judge Hayes granted a defence application to delay Ben O’Brien’s committal for a week to allow him to make arrangements for his business and employees.

Both Derek Kavanagh and his son Ben O’Brien were named in the Criminal Assets Bureau’s affidavits in the CAB case against paralysed Drogheda mob boss Owen Maguire and his brother Brendan as “suspected of being involved in criminality and are close associates of the Price-Maguire OCG.”

The Price-Maguire OCG, headed by Owen Maguire and now deceased Cornelius Price, was at war with the Boylan OCG, headed by two brothers on the run, Keith and Josh Boylan, in the Drogheda feud that claimed four lives, including that of teenager Keane Mulready-Woods.

The CAB affidavit also detailed a shooting that took place outside the home of Derek Kavanagh at Hardman’s Garden in Drogheda on May 25, 2019 where a male was injured by two bullets.

It stated a male “was working in the front garden of the home of Derek Kavanagh in the company of Derek Kavanagh, Derek Kavanagh’s son Ben (and two other males). A gunman fired five shots indiscriminately towards this group of men at the front of Derek Kavanagh’s home.

A male “was shot twice in this incident with one bullet entering his left shoulder whilst the second shot struck him in the leg causing a break to the bone,” the affidavit continued.

“The Boylan OCG are believed to be responsible as the Kavanaghs are closely aligned to the Price-Maguire OCG,” the affidavit stated.

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