Court hears leg broken ‘in way you would break a stick for the fire’

A Dublin forklift driver has received a suspended sentence for an assault in which he broke the victim’s leg.

Kamil Stawicki (23) told gardaí that he punched Fred Murray in the head in the late-night attack in Dublin's Temple bar area. But he said he could not remember breaking the man's leg.

A taxi driver who witnessed the assault said he saw Mr Murray's leg being wedged between the kerb and the cobbled street. The witness said that Stawicki stomped on the leg in the way you would break a stick for the fire, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.

Scars

The victim’s leg was fractured in four places. He still has scars as well as metal plates and screws in the limb. As a result of the injuries, the 38-year-old victim said he had to take four months off work and lives with his parents.

In a victim-impact statement he said the fractures have healed well but he worries about the possibility of arthritis in the future.

Judge Patrick Quinn said the assault lay on the lower end of the mid-range of assaults. He said two years was the appropriate sentence but suspended this on condition Stawicki keep the peace and pay €5,000 to the victim.

Stawicki,of Nangor Road, Clondalkin, had brought the sum of cash to court as a token of his remorse.

He had denied the charge of assault causing harm to Mr Murray on September 7th, 2013, but a jury convicted him last month. He has no other convictions.

Barry Ward, defending, said his client pleaded not guilty on the basis that he couldn’t remember the assault that caused the severe injuries. He said Stawicki always accepted he and another man had punched the victim.

Remorse

Counsel said his client accepted the jury verdict now and was sorry for his actions.

Garda David Walsh told Joseph Barnes, prosecuting, that taxi driver Karl Buckley saw the assault and came to the victim’s help. Stawicki went to flee the scene but Mr Buckley chased him and gardaí­ managed to arrest him.

The court heard that Mr Murray was grateful to Mr Buckley for his bravery.