A Circuit Court judge commented yesterday that the case of two men involved in an assault on a stranger who was stabbed in the back with a glass bottle and who could have died was "the worst case" he has come across.
Judge John O'Hagan also said it "has all the hallmarks of behaviour society will not put up with".
Before the court in Trim, Co Meath, were James Gillick (23), who pleaded guilty to assault causing harm on David Murtagh, and John Coffey (25), who was found guilty by a jury of assaulting him causing serious harm. Both are from Kilberry, Navan, Co Meath.
The assault happened at Kennedy Row, Navan, in the early hours of St Patrick's Day last year. The court was told a witness saw Coffey strike the victim in the back with the bottle. Gillick had swung his bottle at another person but it did not make contact and instead struck the victim.
Mr Murtagh was left with a punctured lung; a doctor described it as a potentially fatal injury. He had not recognised the man who stabbed him and did not know either man.
Coffey had €10,000 in court for the injured party if that was acceptable to him. The judge said that he did not want the message going out from the court that you could "buy your way out of trouble". He was also told that Gillick intends to gather money when he begins working full-time later this month. Adjourning sentence, the judge remanded Gillick and Coffey on continuing bail until the next sitting of the court.