Sentence for Italian student's assault upheld

The man given an eight-and-a-half-year sentence for his role on an attack that left an Italian student paralysed has lost his…

The man given an eight-and-a-half-year sentence for his role on an attack that left an Italian student paralysed has lost his appeal against the length of the sentence.

James Osborne (32) of Forth Road, East Wall was told by one of the three presiding judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal, Mr Justice Geogheghan, that he was reminded of the cliche "a fate worse than death" in relation to what happened to his victim Mr Guido Nasi.

Osborne was jailed in November 2001 after pleading guilty to recklessly causing serious harm to Mr Nasi, then 17, in Fairview, north Dublin, on July 29th, 1999.

Mr Nasi was struck by Osborne on the head with a bottle of beer, causing permanent paralysis and brain damage to Mr Nasi.

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Mr Justice Geoghegan said today that while it could be argued that a lower sentence could have been passed, he could find no infringement of any legal principle in the judgment.