An argument which started when a car revved aggressively to get a crowd out of its way quickly turned into a street brawl in which one man was left in a two-week coma in Dublin suffering terrible pain and having a quarter of his skull removed, a jury has heard.
A school reunion and Christmas celebrations soon took a turn for the worse as Barry Mannion, described in court as a “peacemaker”, received one blow to the face, a blow which had serious consquences as he was sent flying back, hitting his head off the hard tarmac.
At Galway Circuit Criminal Court this week, Dean O’Brien (25 ) with an address at 16 Droim Chaoin, Bishop O’Donnell Road, Rahoon, pleaded not guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Mr Mannion at or near William Street West in the early hours of December 28, 2009, contrary to Section 4 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. He also denies assaulting Mr Mannion causing him harm, contrary to Section 3 of the same Act, and to violent disorder, along with two other men, and producing a bottle at Dominick Street during the same incident.
When the trial began on Monday, State barrister Conor Fahy told the jury of seven men and five women that on December 27, 2009, Mr Mannion, a 30-year-old native of Knocknacarra, had been attending a 10-year school reunion at the Cottage Bar in Salthill before going to Massimos on William Street West. After closing time, Mr Mannion went to get a takeaway with a group of friends and had been standing on the narrow footpath when the fight broke out. Mr Fahy explained that Mr Mannion had attempted to intervene, to calm the situation, when he was punched once in the face by the accused, sending him flying straight back and hitting his head off the tarmac.
Regarding O’Brien’s movements on the night, Mr Fahy said that he had been in Monroe’s pub earlier that night in the company of Patrick Ward and Thomas Feery. Taking a lift in O’Brien’s car, the three stopped at Emperor City Chinese and parked on the street outside where a large crowd of people had gathered. After getting the takeaway O’Brien tried to drive off but there were people in front of the car. Declan Connolly, who had been in the company of Mr Mannion, then remonstrated with O’Brien asking him not to drive so quickly through the people and to calm down. Mr Fahy said that Mr Feery got out of the back of the car and “faced up” to Mr Connolly, knocking his burger out of his hand. When Mr Feery tried to go for him again, Mr Connolly struck him, rendering him unconscious on the ground.
The situation got even more heated when O’Brien and Mr Ward got involved, forcing Mr Connolly to back away towards the Number 1 shop at the corner of William Street West. The jury were then told how O’Brien went back to his car and retrieved a bottle which he then fired at Mr Connolly. The bottle bounced off Mr Connolly’s chest and smashed on the ground. At this point Mr Connolly was confronted by both O’Brien and Mr Ward who followed him as he backed away around a corner where Mr Mannion, who had not been involved in the initial incident, tried to stop the fight. However, Mr Fahy said that at this point O’Brien struck Mr Mannion one blow to the head resulting in a serious head injury.
Speaking of his experience, Mr Mannion said he had been talking with Mr Connolly and another friend, enjoying his night out, and then the next thing he remembered was waking up in Beaumont Hospital. “I didn’t know where I was. It was very bad. A quarter of my skull was removed and a metal plate put in. I was in hospital for six weeks. I spent two weeks in a coma.” Mr Mannion further explained that when he first woke up he remembered nothing and that he suffered extreme pain and headaches.
Defence counsel, Ciaran O’Loughlin SC, told Mr Mannion that the accused accepts that he hit him once during the course of a row that was started by someone else. “He told the gardai that when he was having words [with Mr Connolly] you came out and he thought you were lungeing at him and he struck you one blow,” said Mr O’Loughlin.
Giving evidence, Mr Connolly said they had all been in great form but then a car started revving beside them. “We were all at the front of the car when I saw this guy in the car very angry and revving the car. I could see the man giving gestures with his finger and throat. I said, ‘Look, relax’, and was about to continue eating but I had to gesture again for him to relax... All they wanted to do was to fight, they had no intention of moving on.”
Regarding the events that followed Mr Connolly said: “They were trying to distract me from different angles. I backed off... I was going towards the cab office and it was then that Barry said it was ‘Christmas time, lads stop’ and then Dean hit him from a low point straight into the face. He fell motionless, fell straight away, and bounced his head off the tarmac... He was limp, there was a lot of blood. We knew straight away it was very serious.”
During cross examination, Mr O’Loughlin put it to the witness that “O’Brien was the only person who was sober” and that everyone else had moved out of the way of the car except him. “You obstructed him by standing in front of the car, you then came around to the side of the car and remonstrated with him,” he said, to which Mr Connolly replied: “No, It was obvious to everyone there that he was angry and aggressive. I was the first person to move. I gestured for him to relax.”
Regarding the punch that resulted in Mr Feery falling to the ground, Mr O’Loughlin put it to Mr Connolly that he had struck him a “very heavy blow”, one that fractured the jaw in two places. Mr Connolly retorted that he had given Mr Feery a “light tap” and that it was done in self defence. “I was trying to protect my friends,” he added.
“What you were trying to protect them from was something started by yourself,” said Mr O’Loughlin.
“My friends were still in front of the car. I was trying to distract them so they wouldn’t use the car as a weapon,” said Mr Connolly.
“Mr O’Brien says he was trying to have words with you”, said Mr O’Loughlin to which Mr Connolly replied: “Was he trying to have a conversation with a bottle?”
Mr O’Loughlin later told the court that his client did not see Mr Mannion until the very last minute and in the commotion he hit out in self defence. “Mr O’Brien is deeply upset by it, it was the impact of the pavement,” he said.
The trial continues.
