Electrician who bit man in face at Louth hotel avoids jail after doubling compensation

By Francis Carroll, The Drogheda Independent

An electrician who bit another man in the face during a row at a hotel, has received a fully suspended sentence after returning to Dundalk Circuit Court with more compensation.

Ryan Murphy (30), Friary Road, Mowhan, Armagh, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to a charge of assault causing harm at Carrickdale Hotel on March 28, 2016.

At a previous hearing the defendant had €1,500 to offer and Judge Dara Hayes adjourned the matter to find out if the victim wanted to accept the money.

He said it was also an opportunity for Mr Murphy to “deepen his gesture of remorse”.

The father of three came back with another €1,500 which the other man was willing to accept, the court heard.

Evidence was given last year that the victim had been socialising with friends.

He gave a statement to Gardaí and said that he recognised Ryan Murphy from Clady and said that this man accused him of hitting his mother’s car and driving off.

The defendant began swinging punches towards the victim’s friends. The injured party said that he pushed him away. Mr Murphy then came at him.

"We fell over a chair. He was on top of me biting harder and harder. He had his teeth sunk in my face and he wasn’t letting go”.

Mr Murphy was grabbed by bouncers, and had to be grabbed a second time.

A garda, who took over the case from a colleague no longer in the force, continued that the incident occurred inside in an area not covered by CCTV.

The victim recognised the other man and gave investigators a description of him.

No medical records from Daisy Hill Hospital where he was treated were available. Neither were witnesses found nor a report of the matter received by hotel security.

Mr Murphy had not been arrested for questioning. His guilty plea was useful. He had not come to adverse Garda attention since.

The injured man was present on a trial date. He did not attend for a Victim Impact Statement.

Defence counsel said that this was “a nasty enough incident” of which Mr Murphy “has no recollection”. He was inebriated.

Judge Hayes noted that a delay in the proceedings was no fault of the accused.

Testimonials from his fiance and employer spoke well of him. He was a hard worker who had a large mortgage.

The injured man suffered bruising for a few weeks. There was no permanent injury or scarring.

The judge said aggravating factors were that this appeared be an act of retribution and involved a bite to the face. Had there been permanent facial scarring he would have considered it even more serious and there would have been a custodial sentence.

In mitigation was Mr Murphy’s plea of guilty, his remorse, previous clean record and no Garda attention in the almost 10 years since.

The court could treat what happened as out of character.

A two-year, three-month sentence was imposed, suspended in its entirety for 2 years and three months.