BROKEN NOSE IN ASSAULT
MAN INTERVENED IN ROW WHICH BROKE OUT IN THE EARLY HOURS AT CASTLE STREET DURING THE ALL IRELAND FLEADH IN 2015 BUT GROUP OF MEN TURNED ON HIM AND GAVE HIM A BEATING. PAUL DEERING REPORTS
A man who took part in what was described as a group attack on another man in the street during the All Ireland Fleadh in 2015, breaking his nose, has been ordered to pay him €4,050 over the next year.
If Andrew O’Neill (22) comes up with the money for his victim he will receive a suspended 18 month jail term, Judge Francis Comerford stated at the defendant’s sentencing hearing at Sligo Circuit Court.
O’Neill of 2 Temple Manor, Ballinacarrow had pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm to Liam Codd (24) at Castle Street on August 13th 2015. However, a jury of nine men and three women found him guilty and he was remanded for sentencing last Tuesday.
He was represented by Mr Joe Barnes BL, instructed by Mr Shane McDermott, solicitor of Mullaney’s, solicitors.
The trial was told that Mr Codd was left with a broken nose and his jaw out of line following the assault by up to six men. O’Neill hadn’t struck the punch which broke the victim’s nose, the court was told.
Mr Codd was training at a gym before coming into town. He wasn’t drinking and met up with friends in a pub. He remained with them until 3am and some of his friends then went to the Four Lanterns. He drove them there and he then decided to go to Roberta’s takeaway.
After being there for a short period he decided to return to his friends at the Four Lanterns.
On his way back over at Castle Street between 3am and 3.30am he saw a man (O’Neill) hitting another man and he went over to tell him to stop.
O’Neill then turned on Mr Codd and tried to hit him. He then received a number of blows at that stage from a group of men. He got away and retreated towards Centra.
He made his way back to his car at the Four Lanterns and there he told his friends what had happened. He was bleeding and he was aware that his nose had been damaged.
The Gardaí were then contacted and he met with them in the street.
At last Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, Garda Ciaran Whelan outlined to Mr Pat Reynolds BL (prosecuting) how when Mr Codd went over to step to intervene in the altercation between O’Neill and another man, the group turned on him.
Three of the six men involved were identified from CCTV footage, including O’Neill. No charges were directed in relation to one of the three while one was dealt with under a restorative justice initiative through the Juvenile Diversion programme.
Garda Whelan said Mr Codd, who was not present in court, that he had ongoing issues regarding his nose and was awaiting a procedure. He had problems breathing through one of the nasal passages.
Mr Codd’s Victim Impact Statement was read to the court by Garda Whelan in which he described how the assault had affected him from a social as well as a sporting perspective. It was one of the reasons why he quit karate at the end of 2015 due to a loss of confidence.
He had been involved in karate for 13 years and had competed at european and world level, winning many titles.
Such was the impact of the assault he said he would feel anxious and demoralised to even attend training.
“At the age of 21, I should have been in my peak years in competition but the reality was I struggled to step into the training room. I have made many attempts to go back training and competing but all ended in failure,” he stated.
He did take up boxing and enjoyed training but said he did not have the same confidence to go back competing.
“It’s like a battle with myself, to try to prepare for competition, these feelings of being overwhelmed and anxiety defeat my hunger to be competitive again,” he said.
He had breathing issues which are worse at night. He added that he was incapable of cuddling his girlfriend for long periods of time due to difficulties with breathing.
When watching a movie with his girlfriend he would have to take forceful inhalations to get a full breath.
“This can become quite frustrating and although it sounds like such a small thing, it’s those little things that we take for granted and only appreciate them when we can’t have it.”
He outlined how he found himself grinding his teeth at night and wake in the morning with a terrible ache in his jaw. His bite was misaligned which would result in a lot of neck tension and he would get headaches from time to time.
When it got really bad he would have to do lots of exercises to alleviate it. He had his nose manipulated on two occasions but it was still slightly off-line.
The first time his nose was manipulated it did not set right so he had to go back to hospital in Sligo a couple of weeks later to have it done again. He was preparing for karate World championships in November at the time, training three times a day since the July and described the broken nose set-back as catastrophic.
In terms of his social life he said he did not want photos taken on nights out with friends because his nose was misaligned.
Court proceedings also took their toll, stressing him so much over the days of the trial.
He added that he did not know if he would ever fully build his confidence to compete at his best again.
“It is very disheartening and demoralising and I hope it will not always be this way,” he concluded.
Garda Whelan agreed with Mr Reynolds that the victim didn’t use his karate on the night, only in a defensive manner, as it would have meant his being banned from the sport.
The Garda agreed that O’Neill didn’t land the blow which broke Mr Codd’s nose but that he was part of a joint enterprise.
O’Neill had seven previous convictions, all road traffic, five of which were in Northern Ireland.
Mr Barnes pleaded that O’Neill had expressed remorse and after the incident he had sought out treatment for an addiction to cocaine. He was now drug free.
The defendant, who worked in a local supermarket, had found it difficult to accept responsibility initially for the injury inflicted on Mr Codd.
Mr Barnes handed in a number of testimonials on the defendant’s behalf including one from his employer, Lidl, White Oaks Rehab Centre and Garda Thomas Dooner.
O’Neill also had the sum of €1,000 in court for the victim which he began saving last August. He had also paid off debts of some €2,000 to his family which arose in the context of threatsfrom taking drugs.
Mr Barnes added that the defendant didn’t have an entrenched criminal history.
Passing sentence, Judge Comerford said the defendant was part and parcel of the assault even if he didn’t strike the blow which broke Mr Codd’s nose.
It was a serious assault and he was part of a group of six or seven men who attacked a lone individual on the streets of Sligo in the early hours and caused harm to him to which there hadn’t been a physical recovery to date.
The defendant contested the matter which he was entitled to do but this removed a significant mitigating factor in sentencing.
The Judge said that while Mr Codd was very fit he couldn’t stand against a group attacking him. It was not a fair fight.
It was a beating and he was being punished for having the nerve of interrupting the group and the physical assault being done by the defendant against a third party the victim had come to assist.
Judge Comerford said he was satisfied having heard the evidence this was the case. The jury did not accept the defendant’s version and neither did he that he had stood by and watched the others.
It was a group attack, added the Judge. He noted that some of the defendant’s convictions were after the assault which didn’t “fit at all easily with the picture of full rehabilitation.”
The Judge added that a probation report did point out that the officer was impressed by the progress he had made and he was prepared to give him a chance. An 18 month sentence would be imposed if O’Neill comes up with €4,050 in three instalments of €1,350 by November 1st 2019.
(O’NEILL) WAS PART OF A GROUP OF SIX OR SEVEN MEN WHO ATTACKED A LONE INDIVIDUAL ON THE STREETS OF SLIGO IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE MORNING AND CAUSED HARM TO HIM