Courts

All-Ireland winner Kyle Hayes to be sentenced for violent disorder

Limerick hurler convicted by a jury at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court last December for his role in a nightclub incident

Kyle Hayes: the five-time All-Ireland winner is to be sentenced after being found guilty of a charge of violent disorder. Photograph: Brendan Gleeson

David Raleigh
Fri Jan 19 2024 - 05:00

Five-time All-Ireland winning Limerick hurler Kyle Hayes could face jail on Friday when he is sentenced for his part in a violent incident in a nightclub four years ago.

Hayes (25), of Ballyashea, Kildimo, was convicted by a jury at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court last December of violent disorder inside the Icon nightclub in Limerick on October 28th, 2019. Hayes, who has no previous convictions, had denied the charge.

CCTV footage from inside the club showed Hayes and others allegedly throwing punches at Cillian McCarthy (24) on the thronged dance area.

The violent disorder offence, which is contrary to the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994, carries a sentence of a fine and/or a term of imprisonment not exceeding 10 years.

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Hayes was found not guilty by the jury of a charge of assault causing harm to Mr McCarthy outside the club on the same night.

Two gardaí gave evidence that they each witnessed Hayes kicking and stamping on a man’s head and body outside the Icon nightclub on the night. However, the court heard there was no CCTV footage of the alleged attack outside the premises.

A two-week trial last December heard allegations that Hayes and others attacked Mr McCarthy on the club’s dance floor, repeatedly punching him in the head.

Hayes had allegedly warned Mr McCarthy and another man to “stay the f**k away” from two women they were chatting to in a bar attached to the nightclub.

Mr McCarthy told the trial that when he told Hayes he knew the girls, Hayes became aggressive and said “Do you know who the f**k I am?”

Hayes admitted in Garda interviews following his arrest that he ran from gardaí outside the club after they told him not to leave the area when they arrived upon the scene. Hayes claimed that he had run away, not because he was involved, but because he just wanted to get away from the violent scenes.

Hayes said he eventually stopped running from a detective garda who pursued him on foot, because he was concerned running away might have “made me look guilty”.

Following his conviction for violent disorder, Hayes was remanded on bail on his own bond of €100. He agreed to give up his passport to gardaí and not apply for new travel documents, abide by a nightly curfew, and not commit any further crimes while on bail.

Judge Dermot Sheehan said Hayes’s behaviour on the club’s dance floor that was packed with people had been “extremely dangerous”.

The judge said he was seriously considering a “custodial sentence”.

A number of testimonials on behalf of Hayes, who was named Young Hurler of the Year in 2018, were to be canvassed for consideration by the court.

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