LGBT rugby team manager spared assault conviction

The manager of a Dublin LGBT rugby club team has been spared a criminal record and a possible jail sentence for assaulting a friend who was lifted in the air and thrown to the ground during a dinner party.

Gavin Fogarty (45) coaches a team with the Emerald Warriors which aims to be the leading LGBT inclusive rugby club. He had pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court last month to assaulting Michael Rohan on April 19th in 2014.

On Friday, the case was finalised when Judge Miriam Walsh noted he had complied with her order to give €2,500 to charity, and she dismissed the case.

Mr Rohan had refused to accept the money, so it was instead donated to the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin which helps the homeless.

During the hearing, Mr Rohan told Judge Walsh he thought he was going to die when he was grabbed from behind and lifted to shoulder height and then thrown to the floor after he went to a party at a friend’s house.

Both men had attended a dinner party hosted by a mutual friend in Castleymoyne, Balgriffin, in north Dublin. Garda Domhnall O’Friel said Fogarty, a qualified civil engineer, picked up Mr Rohan and threw him on the ground resulting in an injury. Fogarty later made a statement outlining his version of events and was co-operative.

Garda O'Friel agreed with defence counsel David Staunton that during the course of the evening alcohol had been consumed. There had been an earlier incident where Fogarty picked up the complainant in a manner described as "a fireman's lift". At a later stage, he picked him up again and Mr Rohan fell to the ground. Garda Friel said Mr Rohan stated he was thrown.

The defence counsel said Fogarty regarded it as “horseplay”.

The DPP had initially recommended an adult caution, but court proceedings had begun by the time Fogarty made a statement.

Pleading for leniency, Mr Staunton had asked the judge to note his client is a team manager with the Emerald Warriors, a LGBT inclusive team, in Dublin. They plan to go on a trip to America this year and a conviction could have a severe effect on his ability to travel.

The court heard Fogarty was an engineer who went into the financial sector before going back into construction. However, he has had financial difficulties and is now unemployed. He knows it was a reckless act which is a source of shame and embarrassment, counsel had said, adding that his client never intended to cause any injury.