A Dublin man has avoided jail after he punched a woman in the face having mistaken her for a man during a drunken row over a jacket.
Paul Fox (26) who has an address in Irishtown, Dublin 4 appeared before the Circuit Criminal Court having pleaded guilty to a charge of affray.
Garda Kevin Massey of Irishtown Garda Station gave evidence of the incident, which took place on the 29th of April 2023, when the injured party was celebrating her 21st birthday with her then girlfriend in the Irishtown House pub.
The court heard that the woman had been trying to help a friend “who had taken ill” into a taxi when she went back into the pub in search of his jacket. She then mistakenly took a jacket belonging to Fox and took it outside.
The accused claimed that he had thought the woman was trying to steal his jacket, and that she was a man, leading him to punch her in the face with a closed fist.
The blow caused the woman to fall to the ground where she remained unconscious for 30-40 seconds, the court heard.
When Gardaí were called to the scene, the victim was sitting against a wall with her head between her knees, having sustained to fracture to her jaw.
The court heard that the accused left the scene and that he claimed to be under the impression that he was being confronted by the woman and her friends, that “things were getting handsy”, and that he needed to throw a punch in order to make them back off from him.
The court heard that there was some disagreement among the parties as to the manner in which the jacket was retuned to Fox, who claims the victim was bing rude to him, while she claims he was the one being rude to her.
Fox, who has no previous convictions, was arrested and interviewed at Donnybrook Garda station on the 17th of July 2023.
Garda Massey gave evidence that he was “shocked to hear that he had hit a female”, and said he had “nothing but respect for women.”
He also said, “I’m sorry to hear that, it shouldn’t have happened to a girl.”
The court heard that there was “drink on board” in respect of both parties, and that the accused had said “get him away from him” during the altercation, however the victim’s friends claimed to have said “that’s a girl” before the punch was thrown.
Fox brought €5,000 to court, with his defending counsel saying that this was a “genuine token of remorse”.
The injured party said that she had been unable to eat solid food for six months due to the jaw fracture, and that she “got so hateful and spiteful” because of what had happened.
She described becoming “unbearable to be around” and how this had affected her romantic relationships.
She also claimed to have missed out on a chance to move to Australia due to her prolonged recovery, and that she went into debt.
The woman said she was “lucky to be here” as “some girls are not”.
Judge Orla Crowe said that the victim had made an“entirely innocent mistake” and had been hit with a “closed fist” during a “verbal dispute”
She said that the injury had had a “dreadful impact” and that“drink doesn’t excuse this at all”.
“People make mistakes and pick up the wrong jacket,” she added.
The court set a headline sentence of 18 months before reducing this to 12 months which were suspended in full for a period of three years.
The injured party indicated that she was happy to accept the €5,000 as a token of remorse.