A young man who punched the assistant manager of his local pub after being asked repeatedly to leave has received a suspended sentence on condition he pay his victim €3,000.
Christopher Byrne (20), who had already been barred from the pub, broke the man’s nose with a single punch and fled the premises.
He later went to a Garda station and admitted the assault.
Byrne, of Kingswood Heights, Tallaght, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Mark Nulty, causing him harm at the Clock Tower pub, Tallaght, on October 23rd, 2010. He had no previous convictions.
Judge Martin Nolan said the unprovoked assault had come about as a result of Byrne feeling “irritated” at being barred. The judge imposed an 18-month sentence but suspended it on conditions including he gather €3,000 within one year for his victim “as a token of remorse”.
Garda Rachael Kilpatrick said that when she went to the pub, Mr Nulty told her he had been struck in the face by a man who was barred. Byrne later came into the Garda station and made admissions about the assault. He said the man had provoked him by calling him names.
He said he had been barred after being accused of drinking cans outside but said he had not done this.