Army veteran left partially paralysed after samurai sword attack, court told

An army veteran and voluntary worker has been left partially paralysed and almost without speech following an attack by a man who struck him on the head with a samurai sword during a row outside a pub, a court heard.

Liam McCarthy, aged 28, of Church St in Cappawhite, Co Tipperary, pleaded guilty at Clonmel Circuit Court to assault causing serious harm to Martin Butler, aged 49, violent disorder and producing an offensive article during an incident.

Mr Butler, a separated father who served two tours of duty in Lebanon while in the army and has since been involved in GAA and other community and voluntary activities in Cappawhite, has been left with paralysis in his right hand and leg. He walks with the aid of a stick and has no speech apart from a vocabulary of four words: Yes, no, fine, and bye.

A sentencing hearing was adjourned yesterday when it emerged that McCarthy had been given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for three years, at Cork District Court in Jan 2012 and was under the terms of that suspended sentence when he committed the Cappawhite offences.

Judge Pauline Codd remanded the accused on bail, to appear again at Cork District Court on Apr 30, when the suspended sentence will have to be reviewed before the Cappawhite case can be finalised in July.

The court heard yesterday there was “all-out war” on the street in Cappawhite late on Mar 30, 2012, after a “minor enough disagreement” broke out in a pub.

A group of cardplayers, including Martin Butler, became involved in an argument with another group of three men, which included McCarthy.

After the accused was briefly knocked unconscious on the street, he went home to get a weapon and returned with a 1m-long ornamental sword.

He struck Mr Butler once on the head from behind, causing a serious 16cm laceration. The victim was later transferred to Cork University Hospital after he suffered a “penetrating injury to the brain”.