A man headbutted two people shortly after a suspended sentence for another serious assault had ended, Dublin District Court heard today.
David Masters (25), Watergate, Tallaght, Dublin, was told he would serve 16 months' imprisonment if he committed even a minor offence in the next couple of years when he admitted the headbutting incident at Faugh's GAA Club, Templeogue, on August 23rd last year.
He was also ordered to pay €7,500 to the two men he assaulted during a function at the club. One man suffered minor injuries, while the second lost a tooth.
Masters was convicted in the Circuit Court in 2001 of another assault and was given a 12-month jail sentence suspended for two years on condition that he pay €1,500 to the victim of that crime.
About two months after that suspended period expired, he committed the latest assaults. Both incidents involved him consuming a considerable amount of drink, the court heard.
Judge Gerard Haughton said it was a serious incident, made all the more so by the fact that he had a previous conviction. Were it not for the fact that he had pleaded guilty and had €4,500 in court already, he would be facing an immediate prison sentence.
The judge ordered that the €4,500 be paid over in court and that another €3,000 be paid within three months.