A woman who shoved a glass into her cousin's eye during a night club fight has been given a two-year suspended sentence. Deirdre Dempsey (21) from St Brendan's Drive, Charleville, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to maliciously wounding Ms Olivia Curtin (22) in the Venue night club in Charleville on August 31st, 1996.
Sgt Pat McCarthy told Cork Circuit Criminal Court there was bad blood between the two families for many years. On the night of the attack, Ms Curtin was with Dempsey's sister Tina when a scuffle broke out at the bar. A bouncer tried to intervene but Dempsey shoved a glass into Ms Curtin's eye, which is permanently damaged.
When gardai interviewed Dempsey outside the club she was distressed and shocked, said Sgt McCarthy, adding he believed the assault was completely out of character.
Dempsey wept in court yesterday as she apologised for the attack. "I wouldn't wish it on anyone if I could change it, but I can't."
Passing sentence, Judge Patrick Moran said he was taking into account Dempsey's guilty plea and Garda evidence that she was unlikely to reoffend. He jailed her for two years but suspended it, and bound her to the peace for two years on her bond of £50.