A plumber is subject to a suspended sentence due to an instance of headbutting a fellow man following a disagreement concerning Irish folk music in a lavatory of a Dublin inn during St Patrick’s Day. The Dublin Circuit Criminal Court was informed that the assaulted individual had a minor brain haemorrhage after falling to the floor as a result of the attack just outside the Grange pub in Deansgrange on the 17th of March, 2023.
Gavin Dennan (aged 39, resident of Desmond Avenue, Dún Laoghaire) received a three year suspended sentence after admitting to violent assault causing injury. Judge Pauline Codd further demanded Dennan offer a sum of €1,000 as a gesture of regret to the victim, clarifying that if the victim declines the amount, it should be donated to a charitable organisation chosen by him.
Referencing the assault as “an act of unreasonableness”, Judge Codd noted the severity of single-blow attacks and considered Dennan fortunate to not face graver charges. Despite Dennan’s lack of previous convictions or violent history, and the act being out of character, the Judge stated that it’s quite common for individuals to behave out of character when inebriated.
Judge Codd pointed out that, “Situations get unnecessarily inflamed”, drawing on Dennan’s admission that he lost control in a fit of rage following a heated verbal dispute with the victim, further agreeing he was remorseful and abhorred his own conduct. Eye witness accounts depicted the victim as heavily intoxicated.