A Dublin man has received 240 hours of community service in lieu of three years in jail for a one-punch assault that left an acquaintance with a fractured skull and reduced hearing.
Keith Curran (40) of Weaver Street, The Coombe, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting the male (32) causing him harm outside The Clock pub, Thomas Street, on June 18th, 2017. Curran has no previous convictions.
Judge Melanie Greally noted that the punch came about after a verbal disagreement, which had been fuelled by a large amount of alcohol. The injured party fell and hit his head off the ground, fracturing his skull.
The judge said that though the man has been left with hearing and sensory difficulties and changes to his quality of life, he didn’t wish to see Curran incarcerated. The court heard the man had known Curran’s family.
Judge Greally deemed the offence at the upper end of the scale for assaults of its kind, but gave the father-of-four credit for his guilty plea, co-operation and genuine remorse.
Too drunk
Earlier, Det Garda Garvan Ware told Anne Rowland SC, prosecuting, that the injured man had been refused entry to The Clock because the bouncer had deemed him too drunk.
Curran crossed the road from another pub, encountered the injured party and gave him a cigarette as they talked.
He later told gardaí that the injured party had asked him to hold his drink and at some point threatened to knock him out. He also admitted he had punched the man.
Det Garda Ware said witnesses saw the injured man on the ground after hearing a “bump”. Garda Peter Tuffy, a trained emergency first responder, was passing by and treated the man.
Bleeding
He was unresponsive, bleeding from his left ear and a CT scan later revealed he had suffered a complex skull fracture. The court heard the man was placed in an induced coma and discharged from hospital two weeks later.
In a victim impact statement, which was read out by Ms Rowland, the man said he has permanent loss of smell and taste and 40 per cent hearing loss. He said he slept a lot, had impaired memory and constant headaches and felt he will never be the same again.
Det Garda Ware agreed with Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, defending, that this incident was totally out-of-character and that her client gave an account consistent with witness and CCTV evidence.
The detective accepted that Curran was not a man of any means.
Ms Lawlor submitted to Judge Greally that “the consequences of a one-punch assault fit within the spectrum of virtually none to fatal”.
Remorseful
She said these were people drinking on a summer evening and that their exchange had been coloured by intoxication. She submitted that her client was very remorseful and never imagined he would have inflicted such an injury.
Judge Greally noted that Curran was on social welfare payments arising from an accident at work but that he continued to engage with employment services. She further noted that there had been no compensation raised, but that the injured party wanted the case finalised.
She ordered that Curran complete his community service within 12 months.