A COUNTY Fermanagh GAA footballer has been told to come up with €30,000 or face two and a half years in jail after he assaulted another young man while on a night out in Sligo in 2016, Sligo Circuit Court has ruled.

Conor McAuley, 25, of Swanlinbar Road, Skeam, Arney, admitted hitting another young man with a glass in the face. He pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Enda Fowley at the Garavogue Bar, Sligo on December 26, 2016.

The court heard that the victim had such a gaping wound from having the glass smashed into his face that bone and tissue could be seen by shocked people in the bar.
The victim has been left with permanent scarring and a loss of feeling in his jaw as a result of the attack.

Testimonials

Among the testimonials handed in was a letter from Fr. Brian D’Arcy, who described McAuley as a dedicated sportsman who had played at county level and regretted what happened.

State Prosecutor Leo Mulrooney told the court how Mr. Fowley, a NUIG student, had been out with friends who had gone outside for a smoke when the incident happened.
The victim noticed someone either taking a picture of him or recording him on their mobile phone. He went over to McAuley and told him to stop. 

McAuley grabbed Mr. Fowley by his shirt around the neck and Fowley grabbed the defendant’s phone.

This went on for a few seconds and McAuley said he would let go if Mr. Fowley did likewise. But the court heard McAuley swung at the victim with a bottle or some kind of glass in the face.

Mr. Fowley could feel a splash on his face as well as something gritty. Both men fell to the ground and Mr. Fowley felt that his face was wet and he felt blood.
Security staff took McAuley away.

Bleeding heavily

Mr. Fowley went outside, and he held on to the defendant’s phone and was bleeding heavily. He was taken by ambulance to Sligo University Hospital (UH).

The victim was transferred to University Hospital Galway where shards of glass were removed, and the wound stitched before being he was let out on December 28. 

Garavogue Bar security man Sean Donnelly told Gardai that he saw one man coming in with a left hook and both fell to the ground. One of their faces was covered in blood. It was obvious he had been hit with a glass, and he was given a towel.

Garda Derek Healy said he arrived at the bar at 12.45 am and McAuley was shown to him.

McAuley was drunk and aggressive and abusive to security staff. He had cuts on his left hands and there were shards of glass on his lips and face.

He was arrested under the Public Order Act and charged, but these charges were later struck out in the District Court. He was later arrested again on January 27 and identified himself on CCTV footage.

McAuley told gardai that his mind was blurry that night. He was an Engineering student in Jordanstown. The defendant added that his hobbies included sport and he had played U-21 football for Fermanagh and kept fit on a regular basis.

The defendant said he had taken a lot of drink and had half a litre of vodka mixed with coke on the bus from Fermanagh.

Garda Healy added that the defendant had €8,000 in court with a further €10,000 promised within a year, and a further €2,000 within two years, which made a total of €20,000.

The victim was happy to accept this, and the defendant had no previous convictions in either jurisdiction, the court heard.

Confronted

In his Victim Impact Statement, which he read to the court, Mr. Fowley told how he was confronted by the defendant.

“I tried to push his phone away to stop him recording me. He lunged at me and struck me across the face. I could feel the sprinkle of what felt like gravel and water running down my face.

“When I put my hand to my face, I realised blood was pouring out and I had been hit by a glass.”

The victim took off his jumper and put it to his face to stop the bleeding. He could not get it to stop, and he was able to wring his blood from his jumper.

Nurses at Sligo UH struggled for a long time to try to stop the bleeding. The blood ran down his throat and it felt like he was choking.

“Eventually to stop the bleeding two nurses had to forcefully lean down on my face to try to close the wounds. This was very sore and there were several pieces of glass in my face, and I can still remember the pain of the nurses doing this”.

He tried to speak to Gardai, but the wound began to bleed again and they had to leave.

The nurses had to stop the bleeding again by leaning on his face.

His mother came in to see him and he would never forget her bursting into tears and walking away only to come back with a brave face. In Galway, the surgeon did various checks for broken bones.

The victim was asked to close his mouth and hold his nose before blowing. “A geyser of blood shot out from the left side of my face, and he immediately said I needed surgery.”

On going back to college, he felt uneasy meeting people, and in large gatherings, and a professor was noticeably shocked to see him.

Others asked what happened to him, and to this day he was still asked about his scars.

His left eye is noticeably wrinkled compared with his right eye, and shaving is very uncomfortable, and he has no feeling in his lip or cheek and hasn’t been clean-shaven since the incident.

“I feel like the scars have become a negative precursor for me; immediately, I am judged as a thug.

“To this day, over five years later, Conor McAuley has never apologised to me or to my family for what he has done to me. I feel like me and my family have been wronged.”

Defence Counsel Eanna Molloy said that McAuley, who was working as a chemical engineer in Northern Ireland, had put a financial package together for the victim.

The defendant told the court he apologised to the victim “from the bottom of my heart”.

He said he never intended to cause hurt to anyone, and was not a bad person.

He wished Mr. Fowley “all the best in the future”. The defendant said he was earning £35,000 per year.

Mr. Molloy said the defendant was a young man starting out in life and he asked the court to judge him on his actions now.

He also asked the judge to look reasonably and mercifully on the defendant who had put in place a substantial payment, and suggested putting the case back for a year to allow a further €10,000 to be paid.

In passing sentence, Judge Comerford said Mr Fowley was a wholly innocent victim on the night. He had been left with terrible facial injuries which had been inflicted without any basis other than pure criminality.

The defendant had left Mr. Fowley’s face completely open where bone and tissue could be seen, and the victim had permanent scarring. The judge said he was giving serious weight to the injury which was caused.

The judge noted that the defendant was deeply involved in sport and was a Eucharistic Minister. He added that while the defendant was interviewed by gardai on January 21, 2017, a not guilty plea was not entered until June, 2021.

“Responsibility for the crime was not accepted for a very long time.”

Responsibility

The judge added that the defendant did not initially take responsibility for the assault, his apology only came five years after the incident, and the defendant’s “levels of remorse” were not impressive.

The judge imposed a sentence of two and a half years in jail, but suspended it for a year on condition that €8,000 was paid now, and a further €11,000 in 15 months, and another €11,000 15 months after that.

The defendant was initially remanded to October 21, 2022, but does not have to appear on that date.