Man's jaw was broken in unprovoked attack in Ballina
The defendant pleaded guilty at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.
A man had his jaw broken in an unprovoked attack outside a Ballina takeaway.
Conor Maloney, aged 21, of Oaklawns, Killala Road, Ballina, admitted the assault when he appeared before Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.
The court heard that the injured party has been out socialising with his girlfriend in Ballina on October 25, 2021. He was assaulted outside Del Papas takeaway on Tone Street and left visibly shaken by the ordeal.
CCTV showed Maloney swinging several punches with at least one connecting with the injured party causing him to fall to the ground.
The victim could not remember much of what happened after being struck and suffered two fractures to his jaw.
When first interviewed by Gardaí, Maloney initially denied it was him in the CCTV footage. The CCTV showed Maloney in an intoxicated state arguing with passersby before striking the injured party whom he did not know.
Maloney has one previous conviction for careless driving.
The unemployed father-of-one had €1,000 in court as a token of his remorse.
“This is yet another chapter in Ireland’s unhappy relationship with alcohol,” said Maloney’s barrister Diarmuid Connolly. “This offence occurred when a young man drank too much."
Mr Connolly told the court his client has not consumed alcohol since the incident. A letter of apology was read out in court in which Maloney described the incident as "a drunken mistake".
“Clearly, this is an example of a young man who because of his drinking - and not to sound melodramatic - becomes a killing machine,” said Judge Eoin Garavan. “It only takes a bit of strength and a lot of alcohol to inflict heinous acts on people."
The judge noted that Maloney has no history of employment.
“This man needs to get a job,” he stated.
Judge Garavan handed down a 20-month suspended prison sentence. Maloney was ordered to carry out 175 hours of community service and attend addiction counselling.
