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Galway man has sentence for unprovoked assault reduced on appeal
Galway Bay fm newsroom – A city man who left a bank worker in a coma for two weeks after an unprovoked assault has had his eight-year sentence reduced on appeal.
28 year old Dean O’Brien with a last address at Bishop O’Donnell Road was jailed for eight years in 2011 after he was found guilty by a jury of assault causing serious harm to Barry Mannion on William Street West, Galway, on December 28, 2009.
The Irish Independent reports that O’Brien had pleaded not guilty to counts of assault causing serious harm, assault causing harm and producing an article capable of inflicting serious injury.
There was evidence that O’Brien was driving a car with a number of passengers who had stopped to get takeaway food.
An altercation then took place between the passengers of the car and another man.
Mr Mannion, who up to this point had nothing whatsoever to do with the events, then approached in a peace keeping fashion.
O’Brien then landed a punch on Mr Mannion’s jaw sufficient to split his lip and lift him up from the ground, whereupon he fell backwards and suffered life-changing injuries.
The victim was left in a coma in a life-threatening condition and was later removed to a specialist unit in Beaumont hospital dealing with head injuries.
He has a permanent titanium plate in his head as a result of the assault.
Counsel for O’Brien, Mr Damien Colgan SC, this week said it was submitted that there was “no light left at the end of the tunnel” in the sentence imposed on O’Brien.
He submitted that the error in principle lay in the imposition of an eight-year sentence in circumstances of O’Brien’s young age and his expression of remorse for his actions.
Returning judgement, presiding judge Mr Justice Liam McKechnie said it could be reasonably assumed that the starting point was ten years, which was reduced to eight years to reflect what the trial judge said in his judgement about being anxious to leave some light at the end of the tunnel for Mr O’Brien.
Mr Justice McKechnie said the court found the offence warranted a “severe, lengthy custodial sentence” to reflect the court’s “strong disapproval” of this sort of behaviour.
However, he said the court would suspend the last 18 months of the eight-year sentence.
Galway Bay fm newsroom – The Health Protection Surveillance Centre has today been notified of 61 additional deaths related to COVID-19.
Of the deaths reported today, 58* deaths occurred in January.
The median age of those who died was 83 years and the age range was 41-100 years.
There has been a total of 2,768** COVID-19 related deaths in Ireland.
As of midnight, Tuesday 19th January, the HPSC has been notified of 2,488 confirmed cases of COVID-19. There is now a total of 179,324*** confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ireland.
Of the cases notified today:
- 1,090 are men / 1,383 are women
- 51% are under 45 years of age
- The median age is 44 years old
- 726 in Dublin, 314 in Cork, 148 in Galway, 133 in Limerick, 130 in Meath and the remaining 1,037 cases are spread across all other counties.
As of 2pm today, 1,923 COVID-19 patients are hospitalised, of which 210 were in ICU at 11am. 85 additional hospitalisations in the past 24 hours.
Dr Tony Holohan, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, said: “The number of cases and deaths that we are reporting today and the persisting high incidence rate of COVID-19 across the country shows that we cannot underestimate the highly infectious nature of this disease and the impact that it can have on families and communities.
“The virus spreads through close contacts, through the congregation of people. We need everyone to stay at home as much as possible, and to work from home, where possible. You should not meet up with friends or loved ones, unless you are caring for them. If you go out for exercise, you need to stay within 5km from your home, wear a face covering where appropriate and wash your hands when you return home to protect yourself from infection.
“If you are COVID positive you should self-isolate and stay at home, in your room, avoiding contact with other people. This is to protect the other people that you live with.”
The COVID-19 Dashboard provides up-to-date information on the key indicators of COVID-19 in the community.
ENDS//
*There are 3 deaths where the date of death is under investigation.
**Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 1 death. The figure of 2,768 deaths reflects this
***Validation of data at the HPSC has resulted in the denotification of 3 confirmed cases. The figure of 179,324 confirmed cases reflects this.
| County | Today’s cases (to midnight 19Jan2021) | 14-day incidence rate per 100,000 population (to 19Jan2021) | New Cases during last 14 days (to 19Jan2021) |
| Ireland | 2,488 | 1,222.8 | 58,227 |
| Monaghan | 91 | 2,264.4 | 1,390 |
| Waterford | 95 | 1,792.1 | 2,082 |
| Louth | 48 | 1,741.9 | 2,245 |
| Wexford | 23 | 1,695.1 | 2,538 |
| Carlow | 50 | 1,605.4 | 914 |
| Limerick | 133 | 1,594.2 | 3,107 |
| Mayo | 87 | 1,550.1 | 2,023 |
| Dublin | 726 | 1,340.4 | 18,060 |
| Clare | 46 | 1,285.2 | 1,527 |
| Cork | 314 | 1,280.4 | 6,951 |
| Donegal | 84 | 1,189.8 | 1,894 |
| Cavan | 55 | 1,140.8 | 869 |
| Galway | 148 | 1,041.6 | 2,688 |
| Meath | 130 | 1,012.6 | 1,975 |
| Kilkenny | 31 | 990.6 | 983 |
| Tipperary | 76 | 970.8 | 1,549 |
| Kildare | 112 | 933.9 | 2,078 |
| Roscommon | 12 | 866.1 | 559 |
| Laois | 38 | 851.3 | 721 |
| Offaly | 32 | 806.8 | 629 |
| Kerry | 53 | 796.2 | 1,176 |
| Wicklow | 33 | 671.2 | 956 |
| Sligo | 25 | 656.1 | 430 |
| Westmeath | 29 | 588.0 | 522 |
| Longford | 11 | 516.2 | 211 |
| Leitrim | 6 | 468.1 | 150 |
5-day moving average 2,556
7-day incidence 424.8
Galway Bay fm newsroom – A number of route options for a greenway connecting Athlone and Galway City have been published.
The five routes outline a variety of options for how the final leg of the overall Dublin to Galway Greenway will proceed.
The options vary – ranging from a straight line approach to looping routes which take in large parts of the north east or south east of the county.
The proposed routes will be available on www.galwaytoathlonecycleway.com over the next week.
The public are being encouraged to to have their say, with a public consultation process to start on Monday, January 25th.
Galway East Fine Gael Deputy Ciaran Cannon says this is a crucial phase of the groundbreaking Dublin to Galway Greenway….
To hear more, tune into Galway Bay fm news….
Galway East TD Ciaran Cannon has received confirmation from Minister Eamon Ryan that the contract to carry-out a feasibility study on the rail line will be awarded in February, with the findings expected to be published by September.
Minister Ryan has previously confirmed that the planned double tacking of the line from Athenry to Galway is a priority for his department, while has also said the upcoming study is likely to identify a significant package of works to improve the section from Athenry to Oranmore.
It comes as the population of both Athenry and Oranmore has roughly doubled over the past twenty years, while an estimated 1,500 people commute from the region to Galway city everyday.
Deputy Cannon argues a frequent and reliable train service is needed to encourage people to use public transport and take cars off the road.
He says he fully expects the upcoming study will recommend a significant investment in rail line – to hear more, tune in to FYI Galway@5…
148 new cases of Covid-19 in Galway – 2,488 nationwide with 61 additional deaths
Route options published for Athlone-Galway greenway
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