A 19-year-old Co Meath man has been sentenced to three years’ detention after admitting to smashing a pint glass into the face of a young professional footballer.
Connor Bennett, Headfort Grove, Kells, pleaded guilty at Trim Circuit Court yesterday to assaulting Kealan Dillon, who played for Hull City and represented the Republic of Ireland 40 times at underage level from under 14 to under 19, the court heard.
The assault occurred at Vibe nightclub in Kells on May 24th last. Mr Dillon had been on a night out with friends while home on holidays.
Bennett was ejected from the nightclub and later admitted the offence to gardaí when shown CCTV footage of the incident. The defendant accepted he had met Mr Dillon earlier in the night but said he “could not remember much about the night”.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Mr Dillon said that since he signed with Hull City when he was 16 he lived for 10 months of the year in the UK and looked forward to coming home as it was the only time he could meet up with his old friends from school.
He said while the wounds had healed he was left with scars to his face and neck and had been concerned about his future at Hull as he had to show the club that he had not been involved in a fight. He said he had to work hard to show he was innocent.
He said he was very conscious of the scars and now felt frightened if he was in a crowd. He added that he had not gone out in Kells since, and the incident had ruined his chances of meeting his old friends there.
“That night will haunt me for the rest of my life,” he said. The court heard that Bennett, who had 11 previous convictions for assault, public order and criminal damage offences, had a problem with alcohol but had since stopped drinking.
Judge Michael O’Shea said it had been a “completely utterly unprovoked attack” on Mr Dillon by Bennett. “It would appear he tracked him down to assault him,” said the judge.
The judge described the young footballer’s behaviour on the night as “impeccable and exemplary”.
Judge O’Shea sentenced Bennett to three years’ detention with the final year suspended on condition he enter a bond of €200 to keep the peace for two years after his release.