Two bouncers who took part in what a judge called a "premeditated, unwarranted and brutal assault" on two youths have been jailed for six months at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
John O'Meara and Mark Higgins Cotgreave, along with a third bouncer, Glen Kavanagh, viciously attacked Mr Aaron O'Driscoll and Mr Paul Walsh after the victims were escorted to the front door of Cats nightclub in Leeson Street, Dublin, by the manager following a fight.
They were locked inside a reception area with the three bouncers. Kavanagh, who was sentenced last November to six months, suspended for one year, pulled a baton from behind a counter, and the three bouncers savagely beat Mr O'Driscoll and Mr Walsh before they could escape.
O'Meara (34), The Court, Main Street, Newbridge, Co Kildare, a private in the Defence Forces, and Higgins Cotgreave (38), Maplewood Park, Springfield, Dublin, pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr O'Driscoll and Mr Walsh, causing them harm, on August 5th, 2000.
Judge Desmond Hogan said: "The two accused were employed in a position of authority and behaved in a manner that was in gross abuse of that authority.
"This was a premeditated, unwarranted and brutal assault on the injured parties who were being given safe passage from the premises when the doors were locked behind them and they were attacked. It may have been another accused, who is not before me, who took out the weapon. Nonetheless, these two men were acting in concert and never made any attempts to stop the beating or to intervene," he concluded.
Garda John Hyland told Ms Orla Crowe, prosecuting, that Mr O'Driscoll and Mr Walsh, who are both in their 20s, were in Cats when they saw bouncers punching a man on the ground. Mr Walsh told them to take it easy, and one of the bouncers punched him in the face. In the commotion that followed Mr Walsh and Mr O'Driscoll were forced down the club and ended up in the toilet area.
The manager, a man named Freddy, said he could get the two injured parties safely out of the club. They followed him, but when they walked through the front door three bouncers followed them, and O'Meara shut the door behind them.
Mr O'Driscoll and Mr Walsh noticed that they were in an enclosed reception area. Kavanagh then took out the baton, and the three men proceeded to assault the two. They eventually managed to escape up the stairs to the footpath. A woman said she had witnessed the three bouncers attacking the injured parties, and gardaí were called. The three men were arrested.
Mr Walsh was taken to St James's Hospital and was treated for a laceration to the head. Mr O'Driscoll, who has no recollection of the incident because he lost consciousness, also received stitches to the head.
Judge Hogan chose to ignore the fact that O'Meara had brought €5,000 to court and Higgins Cotgreave €2,000 to offer their victims as a gesture of remorse.