GAA ref must pay big compo for breaking his brother's arm in midlands

A MAN who is a long-serving GAA referee must make a compensation payment of more than €25,000 if he is to avoid jail for assaulting his brother outside the Tullamore Court Hotel.

Brian O'Leary (43), Bricketstown, Enniscorthy, appeared at Tullamore Circuit Court after pleading guilty to assaulting his brother Dermot, causing him harm, in Tullamore on the night of July 31 last year.

A sentencing hearing was told that the victim Dermot O'Leary suffered a broken arm after being punched and kicked on the ground by Brian O'Leary, who the court heard was a GAA referee in Co Wexford.

The court was told by Sergeant Richard Thornton that Garda Niamh Conroy spoke to Dermot O'Leary in an ambulance at the scene of the Saturday night assault and was told the victim had been assaulted by his brother after a verbal dispute.

Garda Conroy also spoke to another brother, David O'Leary, and their father Lar O'Leary. Those family members, along with a fourth brother Martin O'Leary, had come to Tullamore for a night away to mark the father's birthday.

In a statement, Dermot outlined that they had a “few pints” before dinner at about 6.30pm and “everything was fine” and they then moved to another area of the hotel.

Around 10pm Brian started becoming argumentative and got louder and louder during discussions of various topics, and one of those topics was Conor McGregor.

Brian was calling his brother David names and Brian asked David outside “to sort it out”. Dermot said that David and Brian went outside to the front of the hotel and he then went out himself to see if things were ok.

They were verbally arguing, he said, adding that they live quite close to each other and usually get on.

Dermot said he walked over and told them to “cop on”, that they were annoying their father and Brian then came over without saying anything and “just head butted me in the face once”.

There was a scuffle and Brian got Dermot in a headlock and began punching him in the face numerous times.

Dermot O'Leary said when he fell on the ground his brother kicked him twice on head and once on the arm. David and his father managed to pull Brian away but Brian tried to kick Dermot again and hit him on the arm when the victim held it up.

When David and Lar managed to pull Brian away a second time the accused left that part of the hotel.

Dermot O'Leary told gardai Brian had been out of control. The victim knew his arm was “in a bad way” and he rang 999 himself. An x-ray at Tullamore Hospital confirmed a fractured ulna and Mr O'Leary said he was also “black and blue”, had a lump on his head, had black eyes and was swollen.

He underwent surgery for the fracture, was off work and was told the following November that he would require further treatment and physiotherapy and recovery would take six to 12 months.

On December 20, 2021 Brian O'Leary presented himself to Enniscorthy Garda Station and provided a pre-prepared statement in which he said some snide remarks were made and he blamed Dermot for them.

He said there had been a row at dinner with the other brother Martin, and Brian O'Leary said that after that Dermot O'Leary started screaming when the accused mentioned “Joanne's name”.

Brian said he was told by Dermot not to mention that name and Dermot started throwing punches. At the same time, Brian said David O'Leary grabbed him from behind and pinned his arms to his side, leaving him completely defenceless.

Brian said the only way he could protect himself “from Dermot's assault” was to use his head and the headbutt “was more of a push with my head”. When Dermot came at him a second time he broke free and punched him three or four times.

When interviewed by gardai, the accused man said he had hit Dermot “to restrain him”. He had had three drinks before the meal and in all “five or six possibly”.

He agreed with gardai that Dermot's injuries were caused by him and “possibly” his brother had fallen because of his (Brian's) punches.

A victim impact statement was read to the court by Sergeant Thornton and in it, Dermot O'Leary said he had lost €3,278 in wages because of the assault and the incident had caused a rift in the family, resulting in him losing two brothers and his father losing two sons.

The victim said the assault was on his mind every day and made him hard to live with, causing tension between his wife and him. It also had a big effect on his two children who had been very close to their uncle, who was godfather of one of them.

He still had sleepless night and the hardest thing for him to deal with was thinking what could have happened if the incident hadn't been stopped.

Cross-examined by Patrick O'Dwyer, BL, for the accused, Sergeant Thornton said he was not aware of any legacy issues or tension in the family since the brothers' mother passed away in 2014.

Mr O'Dwyer said it had been a family outing and Dermot was rooming in the hotel with David and Brian was in a room with Martin.

Defence counsel said he had a testimonial from Martin “which touches on the night” but he had not presented it to the prosecution and Martin O'Leary was not present in court.

Sergeant Thornton agreed with Mr O'Dwyer that there had been conflicting evidence about some of “the minutiae of what went on” but “the split” was between Martin and Brian, and Dermot and David.

Sergeant Thornton added that Martin O'Leary had gone to bed earlier. Brian O'Leary had suffered no injuries in the incident.

In a submission to Judge Johnson, Mr O'Dwyer said the accused pleaded guilty once he realised his actions exceeded those required for self defence.

He was a father of two who was accompanied to court by his wife, was an Irish Rail employee with no previous convictions, and had been a GAA referee for the last 13 years.

Counsel said the fact that he had been recently proposed for the national camogie refereeing panel meant he was obviously a man of some standing and trusted by the community.

The assault was described as an aberration and out of character and there were testimonials from his wife, his father-in-law, and his brother Martin, plus a letter from Wexford GAA.

In addition, a letter of apology from Brian O'Leary was read by Mr O'Dwyer in which he apologised to his brother for “any pain or suffering I may have caused you by the events that unfolded on the night” and hoped “some day” they could put it behind them and move on.

The accused said he hoped Dermot could forgive him and “things can go back to how they were before this happened”.

Judge Johnson described the apology as “a pathetic four lines” one year after the event. “It doesn't cut it with me,” he said.

When Mr O'Dwyer told him that €500 in compensation had been put together by the accused, and that Mr O'Leary knew the court would be seeking more, the judge said he believed the man was “not the slightest bit remorseful” for what had happened.

“He needs to reappraise his position big time if he wants to avoid going to jail,” said the judge.

Judge Johnson said the accused did not have any concept of the “outrageous” assault on his brother and he was adjourning sentence to April 18 next for a “much, much more fulsome” apology and “something to back it up as well”.

He expected the accused to try to make amends within the family and though the assault was drink-fuelled, he told defence counsel: “Your client can count himself lucky he's walking out of here today.”

He referred to an order for €25,000 compensation he had made in a previous case where a man was cut with a knife and said he would be expecting “something in excess of that”.

“I consider this a more significant injury,” said Judge Johnson, before addressing the victim directly in court.

“You have my sympathy for what you endured, it was appalling,” said the judge.