The Central Criminal Court has heard how a fight took place on South William Street, Dublin on the 17th of June 2021 after cannabis smoke was blown into the face of a heavily pregnant woman who was dining with her husband at the Boeuf Steakhouse.
Judge Martin Nolan heard how a group of men had “surrounded” the expectant mother and harassed her in the midst of which smoke was blown into her on occasions when she had been sitting in the outside area in front of the restaurant.
Daniel Purdy (26) appeared before the court this morning charged with violent disorder in relation to Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997.
Garda Derrick O’Reilly of Pearse St. Garda Station gave evidence that a Mr. Sam Feeney from the restaurant as well as another man by the name of Carlos came to the aid of the woman and were “set upon” by the four males who picked up furniture from the restaurant and threw it at them,
The fight continued and spilled onto the junction of Wicklow Street where Purdy ran across the road to the Old Stand pub, picked up a bottle of wine that was on a table and threw it at Carlos’ head.
The bottle fell to the ground before Purdy picked it up and “lunged” at the victim using it to stab Carlos in the shoulder, inflicting a deep wound.
Kicks and punches were thrown until the fight was broken up by members of the public, the court heard.
Gda. O’Reilly gave evidence that Carlos was “bleeding heavily” from his wounds and was lying on the ground when Gardaí arrived.
He was taken to hospital where he received 27 stitches to a deep laceration on his shoulder and 8 stitches to a laceration to his head.
Purdy was arrested on foot of a bench warrant that was executed last week while of the three co-accused, Ryan Devlin received a 24 month sentence, Darren Mooney received an 18th month sentence, and Leon King is yet to be dealt with.
Purdy’s defence counsel argued that the incident was more of a fight than an attack, saying that the accused who was arrested at the scene was “highly intoxicated”.
He said that his client had been getting into a taxi but had come back to the scene before the fight broke out and that he had “expressed surprise” at this involvement saying that he had “no recollection of offence”.
The accused was 23 at the time of the incident and had a “long standing drug addiction problem” and is the father of three children, the youngest of whom arrived on the 5th of March this year.
The incident took place in the midst of the covid lockdowns when people were “out for a rare moment” socialising and although his client was “highly intoxicated” this was “not an excuse”, Purdy’s defence counsel argued.
Purdy left school before his leaving certificate, has no training, skills, or qualifications, the court heard.
Considering sentencing Judge Martin Nolan said that the expectant mother was an “unfortunate lady” who had been “accosted” before the fight ensued.
He said that Purdy had thrown a wine bottle before picking up a shard of it and using this to stab Carlos who had also sustained a head injury in what he called a “serious assault”.
Judge Nolan said that Carlos still has “some psychological problems” owing to his ordeal noting that the maximum sentence for the offence was 5 years.
On count two of the indictment dealing with the charge of violent disorder, he noted that the maximum sentence is 10 years in prison.
He said that the “general context” of the incident was at the “highest end” of Section 3 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, and that the victim has sustained “significant injuries” where a “weapon was used”.
Noting the guilty plea and expressions of remorse as the main points of mitigation he sentenced Purdy to 3 years in jail to be backdated to the 25th of March this year when he went into custody.