Man who carried out ‘cowardly’ one-punch assault ordered to pay victim €12,500

A Dublin electrician who carried out a “cowardly unprovoked” one punch assault on a teenager during a night out has received a suspended prison term.

Brendan McSherry (27) of Kilmore Avenue, Artane pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assault causing harm of Caoimhin McCarthy on Coast Road, Portmarnock, Dublin on October 8th, 2017.

Aideen Collard BL, prosecuting told the court that the victim was aged 18 at the time and was out celebrating a friend’s 18th birthday. Towards the end of the night he felt unwell and a friend took him outside to get air.

McSherry appeared to “come from nowhere” and punched the victim to the side of the head. The victim fell onto the road and his head hit the ground.

He suffered bleeding to his ear and numbness to side of his face. In a victim impact statement the injured party said the attack had a big effect on him and said his face is still not the same and “droops slightly”.

He said he suffers nightmares and his studies were affected.

“It upsets me. I could have died,” he said. He added that he felt vulnerable and weak as a result of the attack.

Judge Martin Nolan said this was a cowardly and unprovoked assault on a blameless young man who was enjoying a night out with friends.

He said that in the last week he had dealt with a number of similar assaults in which “otherwise decent people behaved in an atrocious way”.

He said his instinct was to imprison McSherry but he noted he had no relevant previous convictions and was unlikely to re-offend.

He said he didn’t think McSherry deserved a prison sentence. He suspended a three-year sentence on condition that McSherry pay a sum of €12,500 to the victim.

He said this was a way to punish him. Lawyers for McSherry told the court that he was ashamed and regretful of his actions.