A FORMER cocaine addict who punched a Dart commuter has been jailed for 18 months and banned from re-entering Ireland for a further seven years after his release.
John Merrifield (34), originally from Scotland but with a recent address in Pulton Street, London, was tracked down in a UK prison earlier this year, having left Ireland a few months after assaulting Kevin Cleary on June 7th, 2002, at Tara Street Dart station. He had 14 previous assault convictions.
Judge Tony Hunt remarked in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that “we have enough trouble-makers of our own without adding to that number” as he banned Merrifield from the country.
Detective Garda Paul Lynch said Merrifield told gardaí he had “a bit to drink” after watching an England soccer game and couldn’t remember hitting Mr Cleary, who had intervened in a row between him and the ticket vendor.
“He looked like a senior citizen. I regret hitting him and I wish I hadn’t,” he said after viewing CCTV stills of his victim.
Mr Cleary, who is in his 40s, received €15,000 of dental work to date from the single punch as he tried to dissolve a “heated dispute” when he overheard Merrifield say: “There’s no camera here.”
Det Garda Lynch told prosecution counsel Martina Baxter that witnesses heard Merrifield say “I don’t give a f***” as he held up his hands in front of the CCTV camera when the injured party fell into a seated position against the ticket stall, with blood flowing from his face.
Merrifield identified himself on the CCTV stills when gardaí went to his address in Bray.
Merrifield left the country a short time later and returned to the UK after he lost his job as a builder.
He agreed with defence counsel Damien Colgan that Merrifield, a former cocaine addict, had lived in Ireland since 1999 without coming to Garda attention until the 2002 assault.
Merrifield was sentenced to 2½ years but the judge suspended the final year of sentence.