THE manager of a Dublin LGBT rugby club team has admitted assaulting a friend who was lifted in the air and thrown to the ground during a dinner party.
Gavin Fogarty (45), with an address at St Assam’s Park, Raheny, Dublin, coaches a team with the Emerald Warriors, which was formed in 2003 and aims to bethe world’s leading LGBT inclusive rugby club.
He pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court on Tuesday to assaulting Michael Rohan on April 19th in 2014.
Mr Rohan told Judge Miriam Walsh he thought he was going to die when he was grabbed from behind and lifted to shoulder height and then thrown to the floor after he went to a party at a friend’s house.
Mr Fogarty, who apologised, was given a chance to avoid a criminal record and told to give €2,500 to charity.
He had offered €2,500 as compensation to Mr Rohan who refused to accept the money.
Both men had attended a dinner party hosted by a mutual friend in Castleymoyne, Balgriffin, in north Dublin 13.
Garda Domhnall O’Friel said Mr Fogarty, a qualified civil engineer, picked up Mr Rohan and threw him on the ground resulting in him being injured.
Pleading for leniency, defence counsel David Staunton asked the judge to note his client was a team manager with the Emerald Warriors. They planned to go on a trip to America this year and a conviction could have a severe effect on his ability to travel.
Mr Staunton said his client was profusely apologetic for what happened. He said Fogarty had no prior convictions and had brought €2,500 as an offer of compensation and he could also face civil proceedings.
The court heard he was an engineer who went into the financial sector before going back into construction. However, he had since experienced financial difficulties and was now unemployed.
Counsel said his client knew it was a reckless act which was a source of shame and embarrassment, adding that his client never intended to cause any injury.
Mr Rohan gave a victim impact statement in court, telling the judge Mr Fogarty “picked me up from behind, arms around my shoulders”. He said he was held “fully horizontal” at the defendant’s shoulder-height. He was then thrown and hit the floor at “some force”.
Mr Rohan said he had to take take two weeks off work, attend physiotherapy and he took exercises to mitigate the back pain. He also had to change his car and avoid speed ramps. He said he had motorcycles but had not ridden them since the incident.
Judge Walsh said she noted Mr Fogarty had never been in trouble before and said she would not record a criminal conviction if he donated €2,500 to the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin which helps homeless people.
She adjourned the case until a date in February.