A restaurant owner in County Donegal has been sentenced to a year in prison after attacking and injuring a man during a “geopolitical” dispute at his Indian takeaway, reports Breaking News.
Prabhjot Singh denied attacking Shane Dalton, a man from Dublin, at his Letterkenny restaurant, Taste of India, following an argument that began when the victim spoke in Urdu in the early hours of May 7th, 2022.
Letterkenny District Court was told that Mr Dalton was left unable to properly open his eye for a week after being slapped and punched by Singh, reports Breaking News.
Mr Dalton had traveled to Donegal with his boyfriend and sister to celebrate his sister’s birthday for the weekend.
After enjoying drinks and dinner, the group went out and later stopped by Taste of India at 3:40am for more food.
The court heard that Mr Dalton, who is of partial Pakistani heritage, was speaking Urdu with his boyfriend, Robert Shevlin, while inside the takeaway, reports Breaking News.
Urdu is a major language in South Asia, widely spoken in both Pakistan and India.
Mr Dalton told the court he was using offensive language in Urdu like “motherf*****” but said it was part of a private and playful exchange with his boyfriend.
He said Singh, the restaurant’s owner, took offense to the use of Urdu, came out from behind the counter, and asked how Mr Dalton knew the language, reports Breaking News.
An altercation followed, and the court was told Singh slapped Mr Dalton in the face and then punched him several times, causing him to fall onto chairs.
Detective Garda Eimear Hassett said she responded to the incident and found Mr Dalton with apparent blood on his white sleeveless shirt, a swollen face, and a cut above his left eye.
Both Mr Dalton and another man pointed through the window to identify the attacker as someone in a blue T-shirt — later confirmed to be 38-year-old Prabhjot Singh, reports Breaking News.
Mr Dalton was taken by ambulance to the hospital for treatment and returned to Dublin the next day.
Following the incident, Mr Dalton and his then-boyfriend, now husband, Mr Shevlin, visited their local Garda station in Ballyfermot to make formal statements, reports Breaking News.
Each of the three — Mr Dalton, Mr Shevlin, and Mr Singh — provided their own accounts of what had happened that night.
Mr Dalton recounted that after using profanities in Urdu with his boyfriend, someone emerged from behind the counter, pulled him aside, and asked how he knew the language.
He explained that he was half Pakistani, but the man accused him of being disrespectful and delivered “a big huge hard slap,” reports Breaking News.
He then alleged that the man hit him twice more, placed him in a headlock, taunted him by asking what he would do, and called him “a pussy.”
Mr Dalton said he lost consciousness, and when he awoke, several men were surrounding him, shouting insults such as “Paki bastard” and other slurs, reports Breaking News.
After exiting the building, an ambulance was called, and he was taken for medical treatment.
Mr Shevlin also shared his recollection of the night, which aligned closely with Mr Dalton’s version of events.
During cross-examination by Singh’s solicitor, Rory O’Brien, the men were questioned about whether they were intoxicated, as had been implied by Detective Hassett, reports Breaking News.
Mr Shevlin admitted they had been drinking throughout the day and may have been under the influence.
However, he said: “I do believe we were intoxicated but I don’t believe that is relevant and I don’t believe we we deserved to be assaulted.”
He further stated that he didn’t think Mr Dalton had any bad intentions when using profanities in Urdu, describing it as “not a public announcement but a private conversation,” reports Breaking News.
He also alleged that while Mr Dalton was being attacked, Singh was yelling “fu**ing muslims.”
Mr O’Brien asked Mr Shevlin whether he truly believed the altercation stemmed from a “geopolitical” issue, and if Singh was so enraged by Mr Dalton being Pakistani that he decided he would “get it,” reports Breaking News.
“I would suggest this is highly implausible and a fantastical version of events,” added Mr O’Brien, reports Breaking News.
Mr Shevlin replied that if Shane hadn’t been assaulted, the case wouldn’t have gone to court.
Singh then took the stand to present his own version of what had occurred, reports Breaking News.
He claimed Mr Dalton was leaning on the counter, shouting profanities in Urdu at the staff, and asking where they were from.
Singh said he approached Mr Dalton to tell him he couldn’t speak to staff like that and asked him to leave.
He described Mr Dalton as very drunk, saying he fell back and broke the fire alarm glass. Singh admitted pushing Dalton as he came at him, and said that was when the victim fell onto chairs and was injured, reports Breaking News.
He denied any prejudice toward Pakistani people, saying he even employed some, but said when Mr Dalton brought up the Kashmir conflict, he asked him to leave.
During cross-examination, Garda Inspector Seamus McGonigle asked Singh why there was no security present and why the restaurant lacked CCTV, reports Breaking News.
Singh explained he usually employed security but had trouble hiring, and renovations meant no CCTV was operating at the time.
Inspector McGonigle suggested Singh’s reaction was based on prejudice, claiming Singh lashed out because Mr Dalton was Pakistani, reports Breaking News.
“You flipped and you assaulted him and chased him and assaulted him again. And all because you flipped because you don’t like his nationality,” said Inspector McGonigle, reports Breaking News.
On two occasions, Singh’s solicitor applied to the court, but Judge Ciaran Liddy ruled there was sufficient evidence to proceed.
In delivering his judgment, Judge Liddy said he had carefully considered the case, acknowledged some shared facts between the parties, and highlighted the major discrepancies, reports Breaking News.
He ruled that the prosecution’s case was proven and accepted their account, concluding that Singh “took the law into his own hands” and a conviction was appropriate.
When asked about Singh’s background, the court heard he is a 38-year-old father of two, a family man running a local business with no relevant prior convictions.
The judge described the attack on Mr Dalton during a night out as a “vicious assault,” reports Breaking News.
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