Two men walk free after beating choir singer unconscious
TWO men who beat a choir singer unconscious, knocking out his teeth and fracturing his face have walked free from court.
Fergal McKeown had to get metal plates inserted into his face after what the judge called a ‘ shocking and unprovoked attack’ on the taxi driver.
He had previously been a member of the RTÉ choir for over four years but saw his dreams of becoming a chorister left in tatters. He was trying to re-join at the time of the assault but had to cancel an upcoming audition. He failed a later one.
James Murphy, 20, and Dean Daly, 19, – who punched Mr McKeown in the face, knocked him to the ground and kicked him over a row about a fare – were given three-year suspended sentences by Judge Mary Ring yesterday.
The assault happened after Mr McKeown picked up the men outside a bar by O’Connell Bridge near Dublin city centre and they asked to go to Tallaght.
When they arrived at their destination one man said he needed to go inside to get the fare from his mother and the taxi driver asked them to leave a mobile phone with him for security.
The pair became aggressive and abusive and Mr McKeown telephoned the gardaí. When the driver tried to restrain one of them, Daly held him in a headlock and started punching him. He knocked the driver to the ground and both men began kicking him around the head.
They took his phone and wallet fled and threw the stolen items away. They were identified on CCTV footage recorded in the taxi and arrested the same day. Mr McKeown was knocked unconscious in the attack. When gardaí arrived they found him on the ground in a semi-conscious state and bleeding profusely from the mouth.
The court heard that Mr McKeown has lost €18,000 in earnings since the assault and is now nerv- ous working the taxi at night.
Murphy of Alderwood Rise, Springfield, Tallaght and Daly of Maplewood Park, Tallaght both pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault at Alderwood Place, Tallaght on April 28, 2012 and to robbery.
Garda James Ward told Marie Torrens BL, prosecuting, that neither man has any previous convictions. They were both full of remorse for their actions.
Judge Ring ordered Daly, who works as a barber, to pay €2,000 in compensation . Daly previously paid €5,000. Murphy, who is unemployed, was told to pay another €500 on top of €1,500 he has already paid.