Paul Gill jailed for assault after manslaughter acquittal

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Paul Gill was jailed for two and a half years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for assaulting Patrick Kelly. Judge Melanie Greally took a separate assault on Martin Curtis into account when sentencing him on 18 December 2017. The proceedings were reported on 18 December 2017.

Gill pleaded guilty to assaulting Patrick “Patsy” Kelly and Martin Curtis. He had pleaded not guilty to unlawfully killing Kelly during the same incident and was acquitted of manslaughter after a six-day trial in November 2017.

The assaults took place in Naas, Co Kildare, on 22 August 2015. Eyewitnesses described Gill punching Kelly, dragging him towards the road and kicking him once in the head. Detective Garda Enda Coleman said Gill then attacked Curtis when he arrived.

Postmortem evidence at the trial showed that Kelly died from heart disease and that minor trauma from the assault was a contributing factor. Judge Greally accepted that Gill could not have known about Kelly’s heart condition.

The judge said Kelly had been vulnerable and intoxicated, was taken by surprise and was incapable of defending himself. She considered his vulnerability and the kick to his head among the aggravating factors.

In mitigation, the judge considered Gill’s guilty plea, admissions, remorse and difficult upbringing. She also noted the punitive effect of his bail conditions, which required him to stay out of Kildare except for weekend visits to his family at their home. Coleman agreed with defence counsel that Gill had a vague recollection because he had been drinking, but had answered all questions and admitted the assaults.