Thrown dildo led to assault in crowded pub smoking area
AN IT SLIGO student had his nose broken after he was punched by a Sligo DJ against a background of a “dildo being thrown around” a crowded smoking area of a Sligo pub, the district court heard last week.
Eric Desmond told the court that Keith Ewing, 23, from Shannoneighter, Bundoran Road, had punched him a number of times when he went over to ask the defendant why drink and an object had been thrown at him in the smoking area.
The defendant denied assaulting Eric Desmond causing harm in the Brewery Bar on April 17, 2018, pleading that he had acted in self-defence after Desmond had come towards him in an aggressive manner in the company of others and was crunching an empty can in his hand.
In a statement read out by Inspector Pat Harney, Eric Desmond said he was an IT Sligo student who went out to the Brewery Bar and had four shots of Jack Daniels and coke.
He was in the smoking area at 11pm when an unknown male threw a drink at him as well as an object which hit him. The witness went over to the male to ask why he had done it.
Eric Desmond had his hands down by his side and said the defendant punched him a number of times.
The witness was escorted out by the bouncers and brought to A&E in Sligo University Hospital.
His nose was broken and needed to be re-set and he needed stitches inside and outside his lip.
Photographs of the injured party’s injuries were shown to the court.
The witness identified Keith Ewing as his assailant in court.
Medical reports were agreed between the prosecution and the defence.
The witness agreed with defence solicitor Gerry McGovern that he had gone out from 8 to 9pm and the smoking area was crowded.
Mr McGovern said people were dancing and there was a lot going on. The solicitor said there was no evidence of any drink being thrown over the witness.
“There was a dildo being thrown by a number of people,” said Mr McGovern.
“Who had the dildo, was it you or your friend?” he was asked.
The witness said the dildo being thrown had nothing to do with “what happened to me”.
Mr McGovern said the dildo was being thrown around a lot and it was thrown at his client.
The witness said it was not thrown to hit anyone.
He said he had been hit by the dildo when the defendant threw it at him. The witness said he was shocked and approached the defendant to ask him why he did it.
He denied a suggestion from Mr McGovern that “he and his friends went across to this young man to give him a hiding”.
The witness said the dildo had landed in front of the defendant and the latter had thrown it back.
The witness also denied a suggestion from Mr McGovern that the defendant was afraid of being attacked and that there was a “melee”.
Mr McGovern said the witnesses claim that drink had been thrown in his face was a “figment of his imagination”, as the distance between them was too great.
In a statement, prosecution witness Sean Redmond said he had been in the smoking area with three or four friends, including Eric Desmond, when “someone started throwing a dildo around”.
There was a lad sitting at a table who threw the dildo in Derek’s face and it hit him. Eric Desmond went over to ask why this had happened and a drink was thrown in his face.
The witness said he knew the defendant Keith Ewing as a DJ in Sligo. Mr McGovern said that Eric Desmond had then been thrown out by the bouncers.
The witness replied that Eric Desmond had to leave the pub to prevent any further disturbance. Mr McGovern suggested that Eric Desmond and his friends were having great craic at others’ expense.
The witness said he did not know who had brought the dildo but he saw it “going over and back.”
He said he saw what happened and that one of the defendant’s friends threw a drink at Eric Desmond. He added that Eric Desmond had approached the defendant on his own. Mr McGovern said there was a “melee and it was on the tape.”
The statement of another prosecution witness, Callum Finnegan, told the court he was an apprentice electrician who was in the Brewery with some friends.
At some stage in the night a few people started throwing the dildo around. It hit someone else, and that person got annoyed and then Eric was hit in the face and he went over to the group. After the incident this witness said he grabbed Eric and took him out of the pub.
This witness said he could not be sure of the identity of the defendant. The witness denied a suggestion from Mr McGovern that he was drunk. The witness said he was along with his girlfriend.
Mr McGovern said that Eric Desmond had gone over to have it out with the defendant.
The statement of another prosecution witness Naomi McFadden, who is the girlfriend of the previous witness, told the court that a lot of people were throwing the dildo around.
She said she saw the incident after Eric Desmond went over to enquire as to why he was hit with the dildo and had drink thrown at him.
The bouncers then broke it up.
She said the defendant was a DJ in Sligo and identified him in court.
This witness said she did not bring the dildo into the premises. She was just trying to “get Eric out”.
Garda Martin Kelly told the court he interviewed the defendant under caution.
The latter had got legal advice and he had a prepared version of events which he read into the interview. It said he was in the Brewery with friends and people started to throw a dildo and it landed on a table and hit a fellow he did not know too well.
The defendant saw him crushing a can in his hand so believed he was going to be hit, so the defendant then hit him.
“I regret the incident,” he said. Defence solicitor Gerry McGovern said the defendant was not the instigator of this row.
The solicitor said there was a melee going on with messing around with the dildo and it ended with Eric Desmond getting hit but his client was acting in self-defence.
The defendant was a decent, hard-working young man and a wellknown DJ and had never come to the attention of the gardaí.
Mr McGovern said that Eric Desmond was not here with clean hands. “He got hit in the face with this dildo. If he had stayed where he was, and there was no need for him to be the aggressor on the night.”
The solicitor added that his client had admitted hitting Eric Desmond and was not hiding behind it.”
Keith Ewing told the court he was having a drink with friends when a dildo was being thrown around the place.
He threw it back but was not intending to hit anyone.
Eric Desmond got up, was annoyed, had a crushed can in his hand as he came towards the defendant.
“I hit him. I was terrified as there was a few along with him.”
Inspector Pat Harney asked the witness if he accepted that Eric Desmon had his hands by his side.
The defendant had said there were four or five with him but there was no sign of this on CCTV footage.
The defendant said he accepted that he struck the injured party.
When Judge Kevin Kilrane said he was convicting the defendant, Mr
McGovern said his client had never come to the attention of gardaí before. He was not a violent man, but he found himself in a situation where he felt vulnerable when the other party approached him and he showed poor judgment.
The defendant was very sorry for what had happened and had co-operated fully with the gardaí.
Judge Kevin Kilrane said there were various versions of what happened, and they were all trying to do their best to remember what had happened. It was a bit of a powder keg and some of those shown on the CCTV were drunk.
The judge said he found it hard to believe the injured party only had four drinks between 8pm and 11pm. A dildo was being thrown around the place and it might give someone a slap on the face.
The victim “rather foolishly” decided he was going to confront the defendant, who, he said, had thrown the object at him and hit him in the face.
At interview the defendant said the dildo landed at his table and it was thrown back and hit a fellow.
The defendant said he saw the injured party crush a can in his hand as he came towards him.
He added that he was afraid this party was going “to hit me so I hit him with my fist, and he fell to the ground”. The judge said the defendant had thrown the dildo at the injured party and he did not take it well.
It was getting beyond a joke.
The judge said the defendant’s reaction was “completely over the top”. It was a very heavy blow, and the victim had a broken nose and split lip. The defendant had no previous convictions.
The judge said he did not know if there was an insurance claim against the premises.
He convicted and fined the defendant €500 and set to leave for circuit court appeal in the defendant’s own cash bond of €500.