This article is from page 2 of the 2012-02-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
A FORMER Clare footballer was hit with a glass in the face during a “melee” in an Ennis pub 14 months ago, a court has heard.
Des Molohan, who last played for the county team in 2010, required treatment for cuts to his face, forehead and the area around his eye when he was struck with a glass in Knox’s Pub on December 18, 2010.
At Ennis District Court last Wednesday, Ronan Nalty (34), with an address 5 Sandfield Mews, Ennis, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm contrary to section three of the non-fatal offences against the person act.
Molohan told the court that he had been standing on the stairs in Knox’s when he was punched in the face by another man.
He said Nalty then followed over the man’s shoulder with the glass. Molohan said that he then hit the other man. He said he had made a full recovery and that the assault had left him with “minor scars”.
Insp John Galvin stated that jurisdiction had been accepted in the matter.
Solicitor Tara Godfrey told the court that another man, who has not been brought before the court, had been involved in the incident.
She said her client never intended to hit the injured party with the glass and had become caught up in a “melee situation”.
Judge Aeneas McCarthy replied that the glass had not jumped out of the accused’s hand and hit someone in the “face of its own accord”.
Ms Godfrey said Nalty, an unemployed blocklayer with no previous convictions, had made a full apology. “This is something he regrets hugely,” she added. The court heard that Nalty is a talented golfer and golf coach.
Ms Godfrey asked the court to acknowledge, that, given her client’s “lifestyle”, there is “a very low risk of him re-offending”.
Judge McCarthy said the act of striking a person in the face with a glass is “an extremely serious matter” that the court cannot ignore. Imposing a four-month suspended sentence, he ordered the accused to be of good behaviour for a period of two years. Recognances were fixed in the event of an appeal.