Two men who took part in a row that left a Lithuanian man with horrific injuries were today jailed for three years.
The fighting at the Royal Canal in Dublin broke out after group of Irish youths demanded a can of beer from two passing Lithuanian men.
Vytautas Sukys (50) was knocked to the ground and one of the youths danced on his head, leading to horrific injuries.
At the Circuit Criminal Court, Judge Desmond Hogan said the two men before him had been part of the group involved in the melee in September 24 th, 2004.
"Certainly things got disastrously out of hand as far as Mr Sukys was concerned," he said.
However, the court heard that Michael Rae and Leigh O'Connell, both aged 20, had tried to pull Mr Sutkys' attacker away.
This man, 19-year-old, Kevin Dunne was sentenced to seven years in jail last October for the assault, which left Mr Sukys unable to walk or talk and requiring surgery to reconstruct his smashed face.
Judge Hogan said that although Rae and O'Connell's offences had been at the lesser end of the scale, he had to take into account their record of seven and 35 previous convictions respectively.
"It does appear to me that there was an intention that this assault should be carried out and that these two gentlemen have a propensity to commit acts of violence," he said.
He handed down three year jail sentences to Rae, with an address in Kippure Park, Finglas and O'Connell, with an address in the North Circular Road, Dublin for assaulting Mr Sukys' 23-year-old friend, Sigitas Ziezdrys and breaking his nose in the fight.
Judge Hogan suspended the last six months of Rae's sentence and the last nine months of O'Connell's sentence.
Both men were also given two year sentences for violent disorder, which will run concurrently