Three Chinese nationals were today jailed for their part in a fatal brawl, in which one man was killed, in Dublin's O'Connell Street on July 10th last year.
Zhang Da Wei (26), of North King Street, was jailed for five years for his role in the brawl that developed over money owed to a brothel. Two members of an opposing gang, Chen Long (23) of Sherrard Street and Yang Wang (23) of no fixed address, were jailed for four years.
All three had pleaded guilty of violent disorder.
Zhang, who was given a longer sentence by Justice Yvonne Murphy after he was also found guilty of false imprisonment, had part of his scalp cut off in the altercation but later had it re-attached when it was located.
He had been living in Ireland for a year on a student visa.
Wang was also injured after being stabbed in the neck by a member of his own gang and later thanked gardaí after their intervention possibly saved his life.
CCTV was used by Gardai to identify those involved in the incident. One piece of footage showed a man confronting another group of Chinese nationals armed with a knife, only for the group to each brandish a weapon in retaliation.
Soon afterwards the gardaí arrived and the fight broke up with a plethora of blades left on the pavement.
The argument is believed to have had its origins in Zhang's refusal to pay for services in a brothel run by a "triad" gang, as well as a long-standing hostility between the two gangs who hailed from rival provinces in China.
Zhang was arrested following treatment he received in the Mater Hospital and the man killed in the brawl is believed to have been his closest friend.
Long, who was arrested in Harcourt Square days later, pleaded innocence initially but later admitted his part in the melee.