A teenager who assaulted two youths with a claw hammer has received a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence from Judge Elizabeth Dunne at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Keith Grogan was also ordered to pay £5,500 to Mr Paul Uzell and £2,000 to the second victim, Mr Alex Eager, within a period of six months.
Grogan (17), of the The Coombe, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty to two counts of assault causing harm on October 15th, 1999.
Mr Uzell suffered a fractured skull. He had a promising football career then and told the court that he was due to have a trial with English first division side, Nottingham Forest, but doctors told him as a result of his injuries he wouldn't play football again.
Mr Eager said his injuries were less severe but he couldn't work for a period of time and his participation in football also suffered. He had a laceration to the back of the head as well as cuts to his elbow.
Garda Niall Barrett told Mr Roger Sweetman BL, prosecuting, that the two victims were attending a disco at the Bective Rugby Club in Donnybrook when an altercation occurred between them and a friend of Grogan's.
Garda Barrett said this youth alleged he was head-butted inside the disco by Mr Eager and then left to tell Grogan on the phone about the incident. Grogan then got a lift to the disco in a van where he found a claw hammer which he concealed under his jacket.
He met his friend and both proceeded to the rugby club where the people were just leaving and when informed about Mr Uzell's involvement in the earlier incident he struck him on the back of the head with the hammer.
Mr Eager tried to intervene and help his friend but was also struck on the head with the implement by Grogan.
Grogan, who was 16 at the time, was arrested soon after and made a full statement in the presence of his father outlining his involvement.