Family relieved as attacker sentenced

THE family of an Irishman who was left brain damaged after being assaulted in Australia last night expressed their relief after a second man was sentenced for the attack.

David Keohane, 29, was left for dead after he was assaulted by Thomas Isaako, 22, and Kane Desmond Tupuolamoui, 21, while walking to his home in Coogee, Sydney, at 3am on August 9, 2008, after buying a pizza.

Flooring contractor Mr Keohane, from Ballyvolane, Co Cork, was punched with extreme force at least a dozen times as he lay on the pavement in the unprovoked robbery. He sustained multiple fractures to the skull and face and was unconscious for 218 days, during which his family flew him back to Ireland.