Suspended sentence for solicitor who punched teenage footballer in the face

A 32-year-old solicitor and football mentor who punched a teenage player in the face in an unprovoked assault has been given a three-month suspended jail sentence.

Handing down the sent-ence on Conor Connelly, of Montpelier Court, Montpelier, Dublin, Judge Catherine Staines said violence could not be tolerated in sport and defeated the purpose of sport.

It is also a bad example to young people, she told Connelly, who pleaded guilty at Tullamore District Court to assaulting a 17-year-old causing him harm during the Senior County Football League final between Edenderry and Ballycumber last July.