A Tuam man has been left with permanent facial injuries following an unprovoked assault on him in the early hours of Christmas Day two years ago.
One of the assailants, Paul Cahill (22), from 31 Cois na hAbhainn, Tuam, has been sentenced to three years in prison with the final 18 months suspended for his part in the attack.
Cahill pleaded guilty to assaulting Stephen Murphy (42), causing him harm at High Street, Tuam, on December 24, 2013, when he first appeared before the Circuit Court last November. Sentence was adjourned for the preparation of reports.
Garda Frank Fahy told the sentence hearing that Stephen Murphy and his partner had been socialising on Christmas Eve and ended up in a Chinese restaurant around 3.30am.
Garda Fahy said Mr Murphy was the victim of an unrelated, unprovoked attack in the restaurant and the aggressor, who had since been brought before the courts on a different occasion, was taken outside by a friend. Another man, who was with Paul Cahill started sneering at Mr Murphy and his partner.
Garda Fahy said that before leaving the restaurant, Mr Murphy spoke to this man who had been sneering at him and his partner and it was alleged he then punched this person.
He said both Paul Cahill and the other person then followed the couple outside where Mr Murphy was attacked from behind. He could remember being kicked by three people on the ground, including Paul Cahill.
Mr Murphy’s partner was knocked to the ground and kicked in the face too when she tried to intervene.
“Witnesses stated that the kicks were severe and horrendous and Stephen was kicked as hard as one could kick at full force and they could hear the kicks landing. Stephen was kicked ten to twelve times in the head and body,” Garda Fahy said.
The victim’s left eye socket was shattered and he had to have surgery to repair the damage. “He’s been told by the surgeon that he will have a progressively disfigured face which will get worse as he gets older,” Garda Fahy added.
Judge Rory McCabe noted from the probation report that Cahill had a limited appreciation of his role and degree of culpability for the harm he caused and the probation officer had found it difficult to gauge if his remorse was genuine.
The judge said a custodial sentence was unavoidable as the probation officer had noted that while Cahill admitted the offence he had sought to significantly minimise his actions and had attempted to portray himself as the victim on the night.
Taking Cahill’s youth, early plea and offer of €4,000 of compensation into account, Judge McCabe said the appropriate sentence was three years with the final 18 months suspended for five years.
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