Samuel McGuinness ordered to pay €2,500 after assault

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

Judge Dermot Dempsey ordered Samuel McGuinness to pay €2,500 compensation following an assault on Patrick Butterly. McGuinness pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Butterly causing him harm. The assault occurred on 5 October 2013. The proceedings were reported on 23 January 2015.

The assault left Mr Butterly with a broken jaw, nine stitches to his eyebrow, three staples to the back of his head and six cracked teeth requiring crowns. He had previously told Balbriggan District Court that he lost 10kg because he could not eat, needed physiotherapy to retrain his jaw and had medical bills of €42,791, including twice-weekly psychologist appointments for post-traumatic stress.

The court had heard that McGuinness assaulted Mr Butterly while he had drink on board and that Mr Butterly and McGuinness’s girlfriend had been involved in an argument beforehand.

His solicitor, John Birmingham, said McGuinness had complied with all orders from the Restorative Justice Programme and had received no further attention from gardaí. He said McGuinness had €1,000 available but money was tight: he earned €450 a week from his banking job and had mortgage and car repayments.

Judge Dempsey considered the €1,000 offer low given the injuries and ordered the higher payment. He said he would impose a conviction and €500 fine if the compensation was not paid by 26 March. The report said McGuinness might escape a conviction if he paid compensation.