A man who savagely and repeatedly stamped on the head of a man he had beaten unconscious in a drink-fuelled frenzy has been jailed for nine years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Mark Gavin beat and kicked three men during his rampage through Dublin's Temple Bar area and then told gardaí he could not remember the incident as he had been on a 12-hour drinking binge.
Christopher Flanagan was treated in intensive care after he was "hurled like a rag doll" into a doorway following his intervention to protect two other men who had already been beaten by Gavin.
Judge Katherine Delahunt noted that the incident had started with racist taunts made by a person other than Gavin but he joined in enthusiastically in the unprovoked assault that caused serious injuries to five victims.
Gavin (28), Elmdale Crescent, Ballyfermot, pleaded guilty to causing serious harm to Mr Flanagan, and two counts of attempting to cause serious harm to Jan Mohammed Khan and Hisham Salem outside Eamon Doran's pub in Temple Bar on October 4th, 2004. Counts of assault against two witnesses were taken into consideration.
Judge Delahunt was shown CCTV footage of the incident and saw that Gavin continued to stamp on Mr Flanagan's head for several minutes after he had lost consciousness.
Det Sgt John Doyle said Mr Salem, from Afghanistan, and Mr Khan, from Libya, were confronted by Gavin and a co-accused as they left the pub at 2.45am. The co-accused made "insulting and racist remarks" before the victims were each viciously punched, knocked to the ground and kicked. Both were treated in hospital for head and facial injuries. Det Sgt Doyle said Mr Flanagan intervened in an attempt to persuade Gavin to stop kicking Mr Salem as he lay unconscious on the ground.
Gavin was then seen on CCTV footage chasing Mr Flanagan up the street and hurling him into a doorway before launching his frenzied attack. Mr Flanagan spent four weeks in hospital and was treated in the National Rehabilitation Unit for a further three months. He suffers from the continuing effects of the head injury.
A male witness who tried to stop the attack on Mr Salem and put him into the recovery position received a "full kick to the face" and a woman who shouted "stop, you're killing him" was punched in the face.
Det Sgt Doyle said Gavin had six previous convictions for minor public order offences and immediately "put his hands up" when gardaí arrived at the scene.
He had no memory of his actions and had consumed pints of Budweiser, pints of vodka and Red Bull, sambucca and Aftershock during a 12-hour drinking session across five pubs. When shown video footage, he "felt sick" and asked if his victims were all right.
Shane Murphy SC, defending, said his client had not planned the attack and had been "heavily influenced by his enormous consumption of alcohol". He "deeply regrets" the continuing harm to Mr Flanagan and apologised "fully and unreservedly".
Judge Delahunt imposed a nine-year sentence for assault causing serious harm with the final 18 months suspended, and concurrent four- and three-year terms on two further counts of attempting to cause harm.