A 24-year-old man who knocked another man unconscious in an unprovoked one-punch attack in Cork city centre has been jailed for two years.
Wayne O’Riordan, from Townsend Place, Greenmount, Cork, had pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to John O’Leary on Patrick Street in the early hours of October 31st, 2014.
Sgt Kevin Joyce told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that both O'Riordan and Mr O'Leary had been attending a Hallowe'en party in the Savoy nightclub before the incident.
Mr O’Leary was standing outside the nightclub when O’Riordan went up to him and, without any provocation or warning, hit him a blow to the head which knocked him unconscious.
Mr O’Leary then fell back and struck his head on the concrete path.
Door staff went to Mr O’Leary’s aid, while other employees at the nightclub restrained O’Riordan, who was very intoxicated.
Sgt Joyce said O’Riordan managed to break free from the staff and ran over to where paramedics were attending to Mr O’Leary and tried to stamp on him.
O’Riordan was detained and handed over to gardaí.
He was later interviewed and identified himself on CCTV footage, without admitting to the assault.
Sgt Joyce said that he would have concerns about O’Riordan’s propensity for violence, given the unprovoked nature of the assault on Mr O’Leary, who had since made a good recovery.
Mental health issues
Defence counsel, Dermot Sheehan SC said his client suffered from mental health issues, including panic attacks and anxiety, while he also had an alcohol addiction.
He was prone to being reclusive, but would then break out and go drinking, leading to offending behaviour, Mr Sheehan said.
Mr Sheehan said that O’Riordan had written a letter of apology to Mr O’Leary in which he stated: “Sorry, it was out of character. I am not usually like that. I was drinking heavily.”
Judge Sean Ó Donnabháin noted that a background report on O’Riordan indicated that he had a serious alcohol and drug problem going back to 2010, which remained unresolved.
He said that it was “a very alarming” assault, in that it was entirely unprovoked and Mr O’Leary had no chance to prepare himself for the blow.
He also noted that O’Riordan had a number of previous convictions for various offences, including theft and robbery, and it appeared that he had been dealt with leniently on these occasions.
The judge said that he had a duty to protect the community and sentenced O’Riordan to three years in jail, but suspended the final 12 months on the condition of good behaviour.
