Judge: Assault had near-catastrophic effect on victim

Two men were jailed for eight years yesterday for their part in a horrific assault on a man who sustained life-changing injuries less than 100m from his home in Cork City.

Judge David Riordan said the deterrence of others who might be inclined to carry out assaults in the city was one of the factors taken into consideration in yesterday’s sentencing of Bill O’Driscoll, of 149 Ballyhooley Rd, Cork, and Damien Fitzgerald, of 62 Inniscarra Rd, Fairhill, Cork.

Both men had denied charges of intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Karol O’Keefe at the Quarry steps, Windsor Cottages, St Luke’s, Cork, and robbing him of a mobile phone on November 25, 2013.