An orthopaedic surgeon told a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury that a Sligo man was very lucky to survive an alleged assault on him with the few side effects he experienced.
Hugh Smith told Luan Ó Braonáin BL, prosecuting, that Barry Duggan (37) was admitted to A&E in St James's Hospital with a severe head injury, which led to bleeding within and around his brain. He also suffered bruising to his brain and a fracture to his skull, eye socket and cheekbone.
Mr Smith was giving evidence in the trial of Stephen Nugent (23), of St Werburgh's, Swords, a tennis coach, and Dermot Cooper (28), of Fosterbrook, Stillorgan, a student, who have denied assault causing serious harm to Mr Duggan on April 13th, 2003.
Mr Smith said Mr Duggan spent two weeks in intensive care before he was transferred to the orthopaedic unit. He was discharged from hospital on May 8th, 2003, but was under the care of a speech therapist, an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist until October 23rd, 2003.
Mr Smith agreed with Mr Patrick Gageby SC, defending Mr Nugent, that the brain injury sustained by Mr Duggan was consistent with a person falling and hitting their head off the ground.
Mr Smith also agreed with Mr Michael O'Higgins SC, defending Mr Cooper, that it was very unlikely that the damage to Mr Duggan's brain would have been caused by the fractures to his cheekbone and eye socket.
He further accepted from Mr O'Higgins that any fall, including a fall from a bicycle could cause the brain injury experienced by Mr Duggan. However he rejected a suggestion by counsel that if Mr Duggan had been left to his own accord the bleeding in his brain would have stopped and he would have made a full recovery.
Mr Smith said this was very unlikely as Mr Duggan had to spend two weeks in intensive care and required ventilation and sedation to aid his recovery.
Mr Smith told Mr O Braonain that neither a punch nor a kick to the head would be likely to cause the brain injuries suffered by Mr Duggan, because significant force must be used to cause that much damage. Mr Smith said it was far more likely that the injuries occurred when Mr Duggan's head hit the ground.
Mr Smith agreed with Mr O'Higgins that it is possible for a person to fall off a bike, sustain a brain injury and not lose consciousness immediately. He said it was unlikely that a person would be able to continue for some time and not feel the effects of the impact.
The jury was shown CCTV footage of the night from 14 cameras around the city centre. A camera outside the Q-Bar showed three males fitting the description of Mr Nugent, Dermot Cooper and his brother, Sean Cooper, going into the pub and leaving again at 1.23am.
The trial continues.