A gamer who stabbed his friend and left him permanently scarred following a “bizarre” online argument through their PlayStation headsets has been spared jail.
Former friends William Cuffe (49) and Rory Fagan logged on to Battlefield V via their game consoles in their homes in Moate, Co Westmeath, on December 30th, 2020.
However, the gamers had a heated disagreement as they talked on headsets about pandemic fatality levels, Mullingar Circuit Criminal Court was told.
The online spat turned into a real-life violent confrontation when Mr Fagan, who was at his Church Lane apartment, drove to Cuffe’s home about half a mile away in Slieve Rua.
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He was stabbed three times, puncturing his stomach and lacerating his liver, during a struggle.
Cuffe, who is on long-term disability due to neck and back problems, maintained that he was afraid of his friend, claiming he was stronger and angry.
Sentencing on Tuesday, Judge Keenan Johnson said Cuffe took the law into his own hands but noted several mitigating factors, including his guilty plea.
Cuffe pleaded guilty to assault causing harm.
A probation report stated Cuffe, who had no prior convictions brought €7,000 compensation for the victim.
Judge Johnson ordered him to carry out the maximum community service, 240 hours’ work, instead of a two-year and nine-month jail sentence.
Earlier, Garda Hayley Foley had told the court that the gamers had been talking on their headsets.
The pair, who had known each other for five years through gaming, discussed the coronavirus but “had a disagreement over figures and how deaths are recorded” and this escalated.
Five minutes later, Mr Fagan turned up at his door to confront him.
Cuffe claimed he got the knife from his kitchen as a deterrent because he knew the victim was stronger and angry. He told gardaí that “in a blink of an eye”, his gaming friend grabbed him and put him into a headlock.
“I said let me go, or I will stab you,” he admitted. The court heard he thought he “nicked” the man once under the shoulder, and he claimed he did not intend to hurt him badly.
Mr Fagan had said in his statement that he put his former friend in a headlock to protect himself.
However, the court heard that during the scuffle, Cuffe stabbed Mr Fagan three times, puncturing his right chest, upper abdomen and lower right back.
He bled heavily but made his way to his girlfriend’s home and was taken by ambulance to hospital.
Pharmaceutical worker Mr Fagan provided a victim impact statement, saying he was lucky to have made it to the hospital. He stated the knife punctured his stomach, lacerated his liver and missed a shoulder artery by a millimetre.
He had anxiety afterwards and very little power in his left hand, changed jobs, and he and his partner moved.
The garda agreed with John Short SC, defending, that both men had been friends for years who enjoyed playing computer games, and Cuffe had helped the victim with home renovations.
The officer also accepted counsel’s suggestion that they were both decent men “caught in a moment of bizarre behaviour” in the throes of the second lockdown.
