Chawke siblings to be sentenced in July over Adare hotel assault

Bill and Alison Chawke, children of publican Charlie Chawke, pleaded guilty to assaulting two men at the Dunraven Arms Hotel in 2023.

Chawke siblings face sentencing over unprovoked Adare hotel attack

Bill and Alison Chawke, the son and daughter of well-known Dublin publican Charlie Chawke, are due to be sentenced on 14 July after pleading guilty to assaulting two men at the Dunraven Arms Hotel in Adare, Co Limerick, in November 2023, the Irish Times reports.

Limerick Circuit Criminal Court heard on Wednesday that sentencing had been scheduled for mid-July following guilty pleas entered by both defendants on a full facts basis.

The assault took place in the early hours of 9 November 2023 at the four-star Dunraven Arms Hotel. Bill Chawke (31), of Merrion Street Upper, Dublin 2, admitted to assaulting Gerard Cox, causing him harm. His sister Alison Chawke (41), of The Beeches, Holywell, Goatstown, Dublin 14, pleaded guilty to assaulting John McHugh, causing him harm.

Prosecuting barrister Lily Buckley, instructed by Limerick state solicitor Brendan Gill, told the court that the two defendants had consumed 14 drinks between them on the night and had wrongly perceived, in their intoxicated state, that Cox and McHugh were staring and smirking at them at the hotel bar.

The trouble began when Bill Chawke repeatedly demanded bar food despite staff informing him it was no longer available after midnight. An on-duty night manager told gardaí that Bill Chawke "was stubborn and arrogant and asked for food again and again." Cox politely intervened and asked Bill Chawke to stop pestering the bar staff, prompting a verbal altercation. Bill Chawke returned to his seat but shortly afterwards approached Cox again and "lunged" at him.

Other patrons attempted to restrain Bill Chawke. Alison Chawke initially moved to pull her brother away from the scene before she began kicking out and swinging at those trying to intervene. CCTV footage shown in court captured her walking behind the bar, picking up a pint glass, and throwing it towards the two victims.

The court heard that Alison Chawke bit McHugh on the left side of his face and kicked his head multiple times while Bill Chawke wrestled with him on the floor. Cox told gardaí he felt his eyes being gouged during the incident and said he "did not do anything to draw such a vicious response."

The assaults were recorded both on a hotel patron's mobile phone and the hotel's own CCTV system, and the footage was played before the court. It showed both siblings throwing kicks and punches at the two men inside the bar and in the hotel lobby.

Alison Chawke was arrested at the scene after refusing to give her name to gardaí. She told officers she did not want her father, Charlie Chawke, to learn what had occurred. Bill Chawke later met gardaí by appointment and was questioned about the attack.

The court had previously heard that both defendants held significant roles in the family pub business and that their convictions had brought embarrassment on the Chawke family and its well-known chain of pubs. Alison Chawke is a mother of three.

Sentencing is scheduled to be finalised at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court on 14 July.

Source: Irish Times