Man is acquitted of assault in bar
A 27-year-old man from Ballymote has been acquitted of assaulting another man in a city centre bar by direction of a judge.
Desmond Flynn of Creamery Road, Ballymote, went on trial before Judge Keenan Johnson at Sligo Circuit Criminal Court last Friday, charged with assaulting Mr Marcus Gorman in the Garavogue Bar on June 21st 2015.
Flynn pleaded not guilty before a jury of seven men and five women.
The trial, which only lasted half a day, ended when Judge Keenan Johnson directed the jury to acquit Flynn due to lack of evidence.
He told the jury the burden of proof in a criminal trial was very high and excused them from jury duty for the next five years.
Earlier, the court heard evidence from the alleged victim Mr Marcus Gorman.
He told the court he had been out socialising at a friend’s 30 th birthday party which had ended up in the Garavogue Bar that night.
He said he’d had three or four pints in the Crozon Inn before arriving at the city centre bar and then had only “a few mouthfuls” of a pint in the Garavogue when he claimed he was attacked.
He said that as he walked past the bar downstairs, someone (“a male”) bumped into him.
“I didn’t see him. I didn’t even get a chance to look. The minute I turned around I was just attacked,” he told prosecuting counsel Ms Dara Foynes BL.
Mr Gorman said he could only identify the person as having “red hair” but admitted this may have been from the dance floor lights.
“I was dragged to the ground and swung around. It all happened very fast. I managed to get off the ground. I remember someone with their hand in my mouth, they were pulling at my mouth,” he said.
He said he subsequently got a mouth infection after the incident.
“The other hand was on my face. I thought he was trying to gouge my eyes,” he said, adding that the person was behind him at the time.
Mr Gorman said there were people screaming and glasses breaking and he was being flung around in a circle. He said the next thing he remembers is being brought out side by a bouncer and having his left arm bandaged up before the ambulance arrived.
“I could see both tendons - they were severed and I had to have surgery on it,” he said.
The jury heard that the wound on his left wrist was bandaged up that night at the Emergency Department but Mr Gorman left of his own accord without seeing a doctor.
He said he was in such pain he returned to hospital the next day, Monday 22nd June, and an X-ray revealed a piece of glass was embedded in his wrist.
He required surgery to remove the glass and join both tendons together. He said he had to wear a cast for over six weeks afterwards which was very tough as he had a 1-year-old toddler at home at the time.
Under cross-examination by Mr Keith O’Grady BL for the defence, instructed by Mr William Henry solicitor, Mr Gorman admitted there was another man with him when he was allegedly assaulted.
Mr O’Grady and Judge Johnson asked why that man had not made a statement to Gardaí.
“He didn’t really see much. He didn’t see how it began so he didn’t want to be brought into the matter,” said Mr Gorman.
“My client totally and utterly denies attacking you,” said Mr O’Grady.
The court heard there was no CCTV footage from the Garavogue Bar of the actual alleged assault due to a “blind spot” but there was some footage of both men being escorted out the front door by a bouncer.
The jury viewed this footage and a second man is clearly seen closely following both the accused and the alleged victim to the door of the bar.
“He seems like a pertinent witness to me,” remarked the judge.
Garda William Mealiffe testified that the second man was never identified. There were no statements or evidence from any bar staff either.
Mr O’Grady put it to the witness that Garda scenes-of-crimes detectives called to his home to take pictures of his injuries but were unable to do so.
“I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t able,” replied Mr Gorman.
“There are pieces missing and I’m asking for them,” said counsel. “The Gardaí knock at your door and you don’t do anything. It was three weeks before you make a statement,” he said.
“I was ready then. When I found out that the two tendons were severed that just broke me altogether, it was worse than a break,” replied Mr Gorman.
He said he wasn’t sure what happened to his wrist but he thought he cut it on glass. Mr Gorman told the judge there was “the possibility I had my glass in my hand”.
Mr O’Grady asked: “You don’t know how you got the cut?”
“I don’t know exactly,” said Mr Gorman. “I could hear a lot of glass smashing. The cut was made by either the guy or my glass,” he said.
Mr O’Grady put it to the witness that a medical report from Dr Sarah Mulligan at Sligo hospital revealed that he told her he thought he was bitten on his wrist: “I don’t recall how I got the cut. It could have happened from anything.”
Mr O’Grady read out part of Desmond Flynn’s voluntary statement given to Garda Mealiffe in August 2015 in which he said he had been standing chatting to a girl at the bar and she had been with a group of people.
He said he said he was suddenly “either pushed or punched on the shoulder, I guess he didn’t like me talking to this girl.”
Flynn allegedly said he put his hand around the other man’s face and his hands may have gone into the other man’s mouth.
The court heard the defendant was never arrested and questioned by Gardaí.
Mr O’Grady said his client co-operated fully with Gardaí, was a manager in Lavin’s Ballymote, has no previous convictions and never came to Garda attention before.
There was some legal argument after the jury were sent out to lunch.
After lunch, Judge Johnson directed the jury to acquit Desmond Flynn on the assault charge.