A theatre studies pupil, Bryan Hughes, 42, residing in Lower Salt Hill Road, Galway, was indicted for seriously harming a French man in his 20s, causing him to suffer from 14 blows to the head in Galway city centre. Hughes was denied a temporary exit from the country to visit his ailing father.
Charged with the assault that took place on Dominick Street on 11th June the previous year, Hughes had previously been granted bail under specified conditions. However, he had applied to the High Court in Cloverhill, Dublin, seeking permission to travel to Canada for a fortnight to meet his father.
The court, presided by Mr Justice Paul Burns, learnt that Hughes held dual citizenship in Canada and Ireland. He moved to Ireland three years ago with the intention of staying on for personal travel purposes. Hughes’s employment record included serving as a waiter, completing an educational programme, working in arts, and finally getting accepted into a theatre course.
Having received a book of evidence the previous week, Hughes was due for trial at Galway Circuit Criminal Court on 7th October. Hughes expressed concerns about possibly not being able to see his father, suffering from advanced dementia, again. Furthermore, his family had offered to deposit £5,000 from his father’s estate.
However, Det Gda Enda Dowling, opposing the application, informed Mr Justice Burns that the alleged victim, a French citizen, had endured 14 or 15 direct hits to the head. After spending three weeks in an Irish hospital, he was sent back to France, where he spent another nine months in hospital, relearning basic skills like walking and talking again.
While Mr Justice Burns asserted Hughes’s right to the presumption of innocence and expressed sympathy towards him due to his father’s medical state, he also pointed out the grave nature of the charges faced by Hughes. Considering the unconvincing single-page medical evidence produced in court, he refused to make amendments to the bail conditions.
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