2021-11-18 · Kerry
Man appeals conviction for 'brutal' attack that left victim with life-changing injuries
In a 2021 appeal, Sean Lane, aged 28, contested his nine‑year conviction for a "brutal and savage" assault with a baseball bat that left victim Eamon Sheehy with life‑changing injuries. The original trial, held in January 2018, found Lane guilty of assault causing serious harm and of producing the bat during a dispute, the latter carrying a concurrent three‑year sentence. Lane denied the charges, claiming self‑defence after Sheehy allegedly attacked him with a golf club, but the court ruled the attack went "way beyond" self‑defence. A second defendant, Jason Broderick, 21, received a three‑year sentence with one year suspended for possessing the bat. The appeal argues that prejudicial material from Broderick's statements at trial should have led to a severance of the cases, a request the defence failed to make at the outset. The Court of Appeal, presided over by Justice George Birmingham, has reserved judgment on the appeal.