Garda left with brain injuries after assault

An off-duty garda received life-changing brain injuries from an unprovoked punch to the head when on a night out with his new wife in Limerick, a court has heard.

Garda Dermot Gibson, who is stationed in Gort, Co Galway, was celebrating his 35th birthday with wife Audrey. They had just returned from honeymoon.

Michael Fitzgerald, aged 22, of Cloughnadromin, Ballysimon, was yesterday jailed for four years at Limerick Circuit Court, where he pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to Garda Gibson.