A telecommunications engineer was "plastered" on the night he assaulted a friend with whom he had been on a celebratory pub crawl, a judge said yesterday.
The Circuit Court President, Mr Justice Smyth, held that Richard McGee, a martial arts expert, had lost his temper during horseplay between himself and his friend, Mr Edward Gray, who was also drunk.
Mr Jim O'Callaghan, counsel for Mr Gray, of Iveragh Road, Whitehall, Dublin, said the two men had been drinking and "messing and wrestling" as they made their way to a night-club. He said the court would hear that McGee, of Clonkeen Estate, Blackrock, Co Dublin, had lost his temper and punched and kicked Mr Gray.
Mr Gray said he had fallen heavily to the ground on his face, fracturing two front teeth and bruising his chin and eyebrow. He now had to wear a denture while awaiting further dental surgery.
McGee told his counsel, Mr Niall O'Neill, he had had three cocktails and at least eight pints of Guinness, three of which he had drunk in three four-second bouts. He claimed Mr Gray had fallen accidentally.
Mr Justice Smyth said a flaw in McGee's story was that he had offered to pay Mr Gray compensation, for which he could see no reason if he was innocent.
McGee had also claimed his martial arts expertise was a form of defensive kung fu which involved kicking no higher than the waist. Mr Gray's injuries had revealed he had been kicked on his legs and body. "I have to treat this assault in the context of the messing about which had gone before," Mr Justice Smyth said. He awarded the plaintiff £2,000 with District Court costs.