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A YOUNG MAN who knocked a girl unconscious with a “ferocious dig in the face” after a name-calling incident has been ordered to do community service in lieu of a prison sentence.
Aaron Daly (20) was out with his girlfriend and their friends when the group came across then 20-year-old Jamie Kelly and her friends.
Glass bottle thrown
Daly’s group started shouting abusive comments and Kelly approached them about it.
She was walking away when a glass bottle was thrown in her direction. The bottle smashed and a piece of glass cut Kelly’s arm, so she returned to the group and confronted them.
She subsequently told gardaí she has no recollection of what happened next because she was knocked out.
Kelly was later treated in hospital for a large cut above her left eye and swelling. She was too embarrassed to leave her house for a number of days because of her injuries.
Guilty plea
Daly of Primrose Grove, Darndale, Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Kelly causing her harm at Marigold Crescent, also in Darndale on April 21, 2013. He was 17 years old at the time and has no previous convictions.
Judge Martin Nolan said it was a severe punch to the face which rendered Kelly unconscious. He said there was no excuse for what Daly did.
“He lost control and punched her without any good reason,” the judge said.
Last October Judge Nolan had ordered a report from the Probation Service to see if Daly was suitable for community service and told him to have €1,500 in court for Kelly on that date.
Remorseful
Yesterday Judge Nolan noticed that the report was positive. He said the attack was reprehensible and but accepted that Daly had no previous convictions and was sincerely remorseful.
He ordered Daly to carry out 200 hours of community service over the next year in lieu of an 18 month prison sentence. The €1,500 was also paid over.
Sergeant Damien Mangan told Lorcan Staines BL, prosecuting, that Kelly’s friend witnessed the assault and later told gardaí that Daly hit the victim “a ferocious dig in the face and knocked her out”.
Aoife Nickle BL, defending, said her client was ashamed of his behaviour and submitted that the attack was totally out of character.
She said he had since become a father and was also diagnosed with schizophrenia in January 2014. He had written a letter of apology for Kelly which counsel requested be handed over to her.
The court heard that Daly wasn’t known by name to the victim and her friends so it was some time before gardaí identified him and questioned him. He provided a false alibi and denied the assault until gardaí put other witness statements to him.
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Jesus. Darndale types knocking women unconscious at 17 and a dad at 20. I foresee a great future ahead for this numpty.
“Darndale types” – the story is about one person. Way to go with the stereotyping.
Hes a Dad now with schizophrenia, so hope springs eternal
It might be stereotyping but it’s bloody accuarate
My husband was a dad at 19, while at college. He got his degree, we bought a house has two more kids, got married. We have been together for 18 years.
Now his never hit anyone but your allowed 1 mistake, right?
Don’t write this young man off yet.
Easy for keyboard warriors to stereotype. I spent my first eleven years growing up in Darndale. It didn’t stop me attaining three degrees since. The most recent being a masters in criminology. In my professional experience crime including violent types are just just as common among us middle classes. It’s just hidden or paid off a little better.
Lilly, when your husband gets schizophrenia come back to me and then you can compare stories
How completely irrelevant lilly. Thanks for coming though
How completely patronising Foghorn. Thanks for coming though.
There’s irony here Donna . Thanks for coming though …..
And there you have it, he’s written off because he has a mental illness.
Is nodody gona thank me for coming?
Not unless she got to go first
Keith, money doesn’t make you middle class, breeding does, don’t be ashamed of your social standing
He made a mistake, a big one, for which he is paying for. Hopefully he gets the help he needs but the state of our mental health system would worry me. I hope both parties can put this behind them.
Keith, with respect, you are the exception rather than the rule.
Looks like you got out on time Keith! Actually there’s little holding ppl from Darndale or anywhere else doing what you did… getting out and educating themselves. However as someone with a masters in criminology I’m sure I don’t need to tell you most don’t. That’s not stereotyping. That’s facts. This young man and his mates decided it was ok first to throw a bottle and then to knock the victim of the first assault unconscious. Hardly Ireland’s best. Unfortunately I predict you and I and most decent folks will be picking up the tab for his destructive behaviour for many years to come.
Hit a woman once, no second chance, ever!
Yes that’s were you find some of Dublin scu…… and the rest.
Yes you are!
Gus – hit a man either. Respect all round please- it’s not ok to punch people to settle an argument, regardless of gender.
I’m surprised he is a dad since he has no balls and didn’t own up when questioned by Gardaí………
Haven’t you heard any man can be a father. Not all men can be a daddy
Ah the youth of today…throwing glass bottles and knocking out girls. Back in my day, the worst thing we ever did was a knick-knack
Why do dubs call it knick knack? It’s clearly knick knock
Does it come from the song, This old man, (nick nack paddy whack) not (nick knock paddy whack) give the dog a bone !!!! Just guessing here.
But you’re knocking on a door, it’s knick knock.
Ye crazy dubs with your incorrect terminology and yer heroin
foghorn, that kind of analysis is why kids wrote “lol out loud”. only in D4 would “knick knock” rhyme with “paddy whack”, but they’ve been using doorbells since the 50s, so your point is moot (nb: not mute)
You’re getting caught up on the paddy whack rhyme, it’s unrelated.
It’s knick knock, you’re entitled to be wrong though and call it knick knack.
It seems to be knack in Dublin only, was always knick knocking back when I was at it.
Whatever way it is in Dublin is the correct way. Knick knack.
Fair enough. Ye should get on board with knick knock though, makes more sense.
I’m glad we’ve had this discussion
Good luck to the mother of his child , she’s gonna need it
Excellent sentencing.The lad clearly has a bright future in “schizophrenic New Dad inter gender boxing”.It simply wouldn’t be right to cage a man with a unique skill set like that.
So become a father and you gain the sympathy of the court. I wonder which personality hit the girl.
I going out on a limb here but I think the courts haven’t seen the last of this guy
The future is in good hands there, eh?
Great message to send out again from our out of touch courts! hitting a woman will only get u few hours community service. values & morals all wrong!!!
Daniel can I ask a question? If he hit a man would you be as outraged with the sentence? It’s not about the woman nor should it be.
to be fair, i think this guy would punch a toddler or a pensioner with equal aplomb. While equally vile if it was a boy, the fact that he punched someone who was not expecting it and would not have the same tolerance as one of his peers makes it exceptional. this would clearly be covered by the sucker punch legislation that Australia has introduced with mandatory jail sentences, as it could easily have killed the girl. for all the second chances people are proposing for this guy, this could have been the mother of this guy’s kid a chance to start afresh that the judge has taken away.
All sounds so positive
Any individual who physically attacks a person should be given a custodial sentence. Physical violence should never be tolerated.
It’s simple he’s a s**m bag,another quality citizen all the other decent people have to live with,well done parents.
Free to assault the next person he feels like punching. Irish courts are great for criminals, not so much for victims.
Community service ??
This little slag needs re-educating…..
He made a mistake let’s not get over excited with the personal digs.
Good to know that if I want to knock a woman out, all I need is €1,500 and some spare time to carry out some community service.
Although I’m not from a disadvantaged area so I probably won’t get any leniency! What a foooking joke!
Two words – Anthony Lyons
That Martin Nolan is a joke. A few years wouldn’t have done the little shit any harm. There d be plenty of lags id like to test his own chin afer wha he done.
To me this story helps raise awareness of domestic violence. It is believed that one in four family units in Ireland today lives with Domestic Violence. This includes emotional, psychological, physical and sexual abuse. Abuse is not limited to any one group, it occurs in families from every financial, religious, cultural and educational background.
Was the judge saying that if he’d had a good reason it would have been a reasonable action?
Tough guy from Darndale punching a girl. Hope she’s got a few brothers.
To be fair to the filthy little coward, he had no previous convictions at seventeen. To have women defending this behaviour is another example of how society is slipping. No decent member of society would perpetrate or defend such an attack.
All the key board warriors here thinks he should be in prison, have written him off as a waste of space. Every lad that gets involved in a fight should be jailed? Ye do realise this is stupid and not possible right? Ye are letting the fact he hit a woman influence ye. This is why ye are not in our courts deciding on sentencing, Thankfully.
Oddly enough Donna Moss, I agree with you that who he assaulted is irrelevant- but after that we part company. The thug should be in jail because he viciously assaulted another person.
Fiona. It’s not possible to jail everyone. We don’t know his history, is this his first offence etc. The law is not just black and White. People on the journal getting outraged is not really the view of the general public.
Stop getting excited Donna about the sex of the person that was hit. Firstly it was a one punch attack that could have killed her if she had fallen wrong and secondly to hit a man like that never mind a woman is disgraceful. Bloody coward is what he is.
Not every fight ends with someone lying passed on the the ground. He punched her hard enough to knock her unconscious. Gender is irrelevant. A blow to the head that severe can cause a concussion, brain swelling, or even death. Not to mention if she’d smacked the ground. The punishment doesn’t fit the crime. Now he knows the next time he will get a slap on the wrist. Now other young men and women are receiving the message that even if they commit a violent crime, they are untouchable. How is an average law abiding citizen to feel safe if the legal system refuses to protect them?
Jailing people who don’t pay fines etc is stupid I agree. Jailing people who swing a punch hard enough to knock someone out is correct. I don’t comment on much, but when an apologist for a violent thug takes it upon herself to mount a defence based on sympathy for the thug then, yes, I’ll comment.
Dirty lowlife coward…
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