The Kilkenny man charged following his involvement in a street brawl that saw a man kicked on the ground by three men and another man lose an eye, was found guilty at Kilkenny Circuit Court last week.
The jury of six men and six women took one hour and one minute to find the defendant, Patrick Delaney of Wetlands, Kilkenny, guilty of violent disorder on Ballybough Street on March 17, 2004.
During the trial, the jury heard from several witnesses who described the brawl as "vicious" and "nasty" and from one garda witness who saw Mr Delaney punch an elderly man in the face despite being in the presence of a police officer.
Judge Olive Buttimer will sentence Mr Delaney at the next sittings of Kilkenny Circuit Court on April 21.
The maximum sentence for a violent disorder offence is 10 years. Defending barrister Michelle de Bruin asked Judge Buttimer not to remand her client but release him on his own bail until the next sitting.
She also asked that a probation officer's report and a welfare report be filled out for the court.
Barrister for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Patrick Treacy, sought stringent conditions to the bail, asking for Mr Delaney to be contactable by mobile phone at all times, to supply the number of that phone to the State and to sign on in Kilkenny Garda Station daily. Judge Buttimer released Mr Delaney on his own bond of €500.
