A former trainee garda has been given a one-year suspended sentence by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
George Gaskin (26), Dunboyne, Co Meath, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to a man outside the Turk's Head nightclub in Dublin last November.
In his report to the court, Gaskin's victim said: "I was literally spitting my teeth out of my mouth." He lost two front teeth and had to undergo medical treatment costing some €10,000 as a result of the attack.
Sgt Gordon O'Brien told prosecuting counsel, Mr Garnet Orange, that Gaskin had head-butted his victim while standing outside the nightclub. The two men and their friends had been evicted from the Turk's Head a short while earlier following an altercation.
Sgt O'Brien agreed with Gaskin's counsel, Mr Breffni Gordon, that the attack had been "out of character". He resigned after he was charged with assault. He brought €10,000 to court as a token of his contrition.
Judge Miriam Reynolds praised the victim's generosity in forgiving Gaskin, and ordered that Gaskin pay him €10,000 as a condition for the suspension of the sentence she imposed on him.