Dane Walsh had been drinking at the Bath Street club on Sunday 7 October when a fight broke out between him and a group of fellow drinkers as he went to get his coat towards the end of the night.
The Magistrate’s Court heard that Walsh, originally from Dublin, had drunk ‘six or seven’ vodka-and-cranberry-juices, as well as a number of shots, before the fight. Police legal adviser Simon Crowder, prosecuting, said that Walsh headbutted one of the men before swinging a punch.
The court heard that after Walsh walked away from the group he twice threw a glass bottle ‘randomly’ – the first throw missing everyone while the second ‘struck one of the ladies working at the bar on the side of her head’.
Mr Crowder said the member of staff had to be taken to A&E to have a cut on her head treated.
A couple of weeks later Walsh was seen outside the club again. The door staff told the police that he had been involved in the bottle-throwing incident before a further altercation took place.
Walsh pleaded guilty to one count of grave and criminal assault, one count of possession of an offensive weapon and one count of being drunk and disorderly. He also admitted a further charge of being disorderly on licensed premises in relation to the second incident. He was sentenced to 170 hours of community service.
Advocate George Pearce, defending, said that Walsh was ‘horrified’ that his actions had led to the bartender being injured and that he had been ‘intimidated’ by the large group at the club and claimed he had been attacked first.
He said: ‘Mr Walsh does not accept that he has a problem with alcohol per se. However, he does accept that he would not have acted as he did had he been sober.’
Advocate Pearce also pointed to Walsh’s youth, his lack of previous convictions and several letters which spoke of his good character and work ethic.
Delivering the court’s sentence, Assistant Magistrate Peter Harris said the assault charge was ‘at the ceiling’ of the Magistrate’s Court’s sentencing powers and could attract a 12-month jail term.
He said: ‘Clearly, you are not afraid to work and that is a good trait in a young man. You have some naivety about alcohol. You have to understand that if you have been drinking alcohol you are not going to have full awareness of what you are doing. That is the simple truth.
‘It is up to you to show that you are a hard-working person that can keep out of trouble.’
He warned Walsh that if he failed to carry out his community service properly then the court would have no option but to jail him. As well as community service, Walsh was given a probation order, ordered to pay a total of £795 and was banned from licensed premises for three months.
