A man who broke a work colleague’s arm with a golf club has escaped a jail sentence after he paid his victim €5,000 compensation. Henry Bates (31), St Aongus’s Crescent, Tallaght, pleaded guilty to assaulting Mark Moore at his home in Tallaght on October 4th, 2011.
Suzanne Gunn, defending, said there had been an incident between the men at their workplace earlier in the day. Bates had been on his way home and had not intended to assault Mr Moore.
Judge John Coughlan told her: “He took a golf club out of the car – I’ll take €5,000 off him now.” Ms Gunn sought more time. “I want it now,” Judge Coughlan said. “If he doesn’t get it, he goes to Mountjoy.”
Bates left the court and returned with the cash in a envelope in less than 10 minutes. Ordering that the compensation be paid to Mr Moore, the judge applied the Probation Act.