Victim had part of brain removed

A 25-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed for eight years for assaulting another man who had to have part of his brain removed and a titanium plate fitted to replace 25% of his skull after the unprovoked attack.

Former bank worker Barry Mannion, aged 31, from Knocknacarra, Galway, has been unable to return to work since the attack which left him fighting for his life on December 28, 2009, but considers himself lucky to be alive thanks to several operations at Beaumont Hospital.

A jury at Galway Circuit Criminal Court in March had convicted apprentice plumber Dean O’Brien, of 16 Droim Chaoin, Rahoon, Galway, of seriously assaulting Mr Mannion and sentencing in the case was adjourned until yesterday.

The trial had heard that Mr Mannion intervened in a street brawl involving O’Brien and two other men. He asked them all to calm down as it was Christmas, but O’Brien hit him in the face. Witnesses described the blow as a “haymaker” which lifted Mr Mannion off his feet and knocked him backwards onto the street, where he sustained his head injury. He appeared to be unconscious before he hit the ground.

Mr Mannion said he had to learn how to talk and walk again and was a different person to the one who had gone out that night to a school reunion.

The judge backdated the sentence by 14 months as O’Brien has been in custody since his arrest.