Unprovoked assault leads to €2,000 penalty

AN UNPROVOKED attack on a 69-year-old rugby fan led to a Wexford District Court appearance for a man working in London for a water company.

Steven Wright (27), address given as Lowfiled Street, Dartford admitted assaulting Brian McGonagle in Abbey Street, Wexford, last November.

The injured party was struck in the face as he made his way home after watching a Leinster match in a public house.

He fell to the ground and sustained a rib injury in the fall which later required surgery at the Beacon Clinic.

His friends detained the defendant at the scene and the gardaí were called.

Judge Bernadette Owens was told that Mr Wright had never seen the victim in his life before.

And it also emerged he was so drunk at the time of the assault that he had no recollection of the incident.

Solicitor Ed King accepted that the attack was outrageous and said his client was disgusted at his own behaviour.

The Thames Water employee came to court with €2,000 to offer to the victim in the case.

Mr King noted that Wright had attended his brother’s stag party on the night in question and was drinking ‘shots’ to which he was not accustomed.

Judge Owens said the maximum sentence open to her for such a crime was 12 months but she reduced this to eight months in the light of the guilty plea. She suspended this term for two years and ordered payment of the €2,000 to the injured party.