Olympian John Joe Nevin given benefit of Probation Act

Olympian John Joe Nevin has been given the benefit of the Probation Act for public order offences after he agreed to give a boxing masterclass to young children in his home town.

At Mullingar District Court today, Tony Conroy of Mullingar Boxing Club said they will publically advertise the class which is due to take place on December 21st.

Judge Seamus Hughes last month asked Nevin to come back to court with a plan for a half day of coaching with young people after the boxer and his father pleaded guilty to threatening behaviour and public drunkenness.

The Judge said he wanted to take a similar approach to his colleague Judge Alan Mitchell, who gave footballer Paul McGrath a chance to avoid a conviction for public order offences in Tullamore earlier this year by contributing to the community through an underage coaching session.

Judge Hughes last month heard how John Joe and Martin Nevin, of St Anthony's Cottages, Mullingar, had too much to drink when they attended an event in the town on July 21st and later had a row on the street about whether they would walk home or take a taxi.

Their argument caught the attention of passing community gardaí and members of the public who looked on while John Joe Nevin and his father became aggressive and shouted at the officers.

Martin Nevin put a curse on one of the gardaí and as he tried to get into a taxi, John Joe ran over and began shouting at him.

Judge Hughes said the people of Ireland are very proud of John Joe, but he said the public order incident was embarrassing and showed neither the boxer nor his father in a good light.

However, he was pleased with the proposal for the class on December 21st and asked Nevin to do “an honest four hours” with the young people.

Doing so would bring the boxer satisfaction, he said, and Nevin said he has done many similar classes in the past.

Judge Hughes said plenty of young people will look forward to rubbing shoulders with the Olympian, and he wished Nevin the best of luck with his career and said he hopes all his aspirations will be realised.

Martin Nevin was also given the benefit of the Probation Act but was warned to watch himself in future.