An addict with longstanding difficulties with substance abuse has been jailed for three years and three months for punching a garda on a Christmas night out with his colleagues.
Garda Stephen Walsh and his colleague Garda Paul McCauley were off-duty and were walking through the city centre on their way to the bus when they were set upon by two men.
Jonathan O'Neill, aged 35, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to one count of assault causing harm to Garda Walsh, aged 50, at Eustace Street in Temple Bar on 14 December 2024.
He has 37 previous convictions for offences including robbery and criminal damage.
Judge Orla Crowe sentenced him to three years and nine months, but suspended the final six months on strict conditions.
"This was a horrific attack on two men who were going home from a night out for Christmas," said the judge.
Detective Sergeant Patrick Traynor told the court Gda Walsh and his colleague Garda Paul McCauley were going for the bus after celebrating a Christmas night out in the early hours of the morning on the date in question.
Neither injured party has any memory of the incident which happened at 1.30am, the court was told. The court heard O’Neill’s co-accused punched Gda McCauley and he hit his head off the kerb, rendering him unconscious straight away.
O’Neill punched Gda Walsh in the back of the head and his co-accused kicked him in the head while he was on the ground. Gda Walsh was rendered unconscious at that time and "his colleague was in quite a dire situation", the court was told.
O’Neill and his co-accused then left the scene.
Gda Walsh said he remembered coming to and tasting blood in his mouth. Two reserve gardaí on duty at the time attended the scene while Gda McCauley was still unconscious. Both men were taken to hospital.
Gda McCauley was in a coma, with his injuries relating entirely to O’Neill’s co-accused. The court was told Gda Walsh had fluid coming from his nose. It was later determined that it was spinal fluid and the court was told he now has difficulty with his hearing and is in treatment since.
Det Sgt Traynor agreed with prosecuting counsel, Patrick McCullough BL, that it was a very extensive investigation where CCTV footage was viewed. When O’ Neill was arrested he said: "I knew this was coming", the court heard.
He made certain admissions and accepted he was at the scene. O’Neill said he "didn’t know if it was a push or a punch" and did "express some concern". His offending relates to the punch to the back of Gda Walsh’s head. Det Sgt Traynor agreed O’Neill has had longstanding difficulties with substance abuse.
'Those thoughts haunted me'
Gda Walsh read a victim impact statement to the court in which he said he did not know if his colleague was going to live. "Those thoughts haunted me" he said.
He said he could not perform normal duties at work, has undergone hearing tests and has some permanent hearing loss. He said it has "affected me in my everyday activities and possibly my career as well".
The prosecution accepted that the more serious injuries were caused by the kick from O’Neills’s co-accused.
Defence counsel, Michael O’Higgins SC, said his client was originally charged with assault causing serious harm, which would have resulted in a joint enterprise, but pleaded guilty to assault causing harm.
He said O’Neill had written a letter of apology to the court where he said it "all happened so fast".
"I’m writing this letter in the hope you’ll accept my apology."
He said he was "so sorry I put you and your family through all this, especially at that time of year".
Judge Crowe said the assault warranted a custodial sentence.
"That punch got the injured party to the ground" which caused him to suffer more serious injuries from his co-accused, she said.
The judge said it was an unprovoked attack on the men who "did no more than go out for a few drinks at Christmas time".
Reporting by CCC Nuacht
