Friends avoid jail after man lost an eye in pub brawl

Two Dublin friends have avoided going to jail after they admitted taking part in a pub brawl which ended in a man losing his eye.

Claire Darby, aged 33, and Eamonn Burke, aged 46, each got a four-year suspended sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for their role in the fracas which took place during Darby’s birthday party.

The pair, with addresses at Primrose Grove, Darndale, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Kinsealy Inn, Malahide, on December 3, 2010.

Judge Mary Ellen Ring accepted that they had shown remorse and taken responsibility for their actions, but warned that if she saw them within the next four years, they will serve the full sentence.

Darby had been celebrating her 30th birthday with guests, including Burke, when the manager asked the party to leave because he suspected they had been smuggling in their own alcohol.

Detective Garda Donal O’Connell said Darby threw her birthday cake on to the floor in response.

She then joined in the “general melée”, during which objects were flung around the bar, including beer bottles, glasses, and flower vases.

A glass shard from a vase that shattered on a pillar went into the face of one of the patrons, Seamus Gaughan, causing him to lose his eye. The court heard that Mr Gaughan died last year, but his death was unrelated to the loss of his eye.

Det Garda O’Connell told Garnet Orange, prosecuting, that Burke and Darby made limited admissions in interview after arrest, eventually pleading guilty to the violent disorder offence before trial.

The detective agreed with Bernard Condon, defending Darby, that Mr Gaughan’s injury had been an “unintended consequence” of their actions.

He agreed with Patrick McGrath, defending Burke, that two other people had taken a trial on the same charges but that trial had been aborted.

Darby and Burke were ordered to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for four years.