Man jailed for skull-fracturing hurley attack

A brawl in a Co Limerick village when children were arriving for school saw two women rolling around the ground, with one having had her clothes ripped off.

The incident was recalled yesterday when a man who acted as a referee during the incident was jailed.

Limerick Circuit Court was told that the fight involved “a degree of savagery”.

The partner of one of the brawling women, who acted as referee for the fight, fractured another man’s skull with a hurley after the second man tried to intervene in the brawl. The fight, it emerged in court, had its origins in the sale of a chihuahua pup.

At a previous hearing into the case, Detective Garda Michael Reidy told the court: “This was at 9.10am on a summer’s morning when this vicious fight took place in a rural community as people were passing by to drop children to school and a nearby creche.

“One of the women had all her clothes removed as they continued fighting. The whole thing descended into chaos.”

The man who was said to have refereed the women’s brawl, Jeremiah Morey, aged 30, a father of two with an address at 1, Coonagh Court, Doon, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Gerry Hennessy of Cooga, Doon.

Morey hit Mr Hennessy over the head with a hurley, fracturing his skull, when Mr Hennessy went to break up the fight between the two women.

Det Garda Reidy said there had been a falling out between Morey and Mr Hennessy after a chihuahua pup sold by Mr Hennessy to Morey died and there was a dispute over compensation.

Det Garda Reidy said Mr Hennessy had dropped his two sons to primary school in Doon on the morning of June 7, 2013.

His two teenage daughters were still in the car with him when a rock came crashing through the back window.

A woman driving behind him, Sharon Cahill, stopped and saw Morey walk away from the scene towards his own house at Coonagh Court. She followed Morey and, as she did so, she was confronted by Morey’s partner, Kathleen Stickle.

An explosive fight erupted involving the two women and as it developed, Morey acted as a referee.

Det Garda Reidy told Limerick Circuit Court: “The two women ended rolling on the ground in a brawl. One woman [Ms Stickle] had all her clothes removed as they continued fighting.”

Mr Hennessy then arrived on the scene and attempted to separate the fighting women. As he did so, he was struck over the head by Morey with a hurley.

On being brought to the A&E, Mr Hennessy was found to have suffered a fractured skull.

Mr Hennessy told the court that the attack had had a serious impact on his life. He suffered anxiety attacks and had become reclusive, so much so that he did not attend his mother’s wake or the funerals of a number of his friends.

Morey, a native of Limerick city, had 53 previous convictions, seven of which were for assault, the court was told. Sentencing Morey to three years in prison, with the final year suspended, Judge Tom O’Donnell said the accused assaulted Mr Hennessy from behind, striking him with a hurley. This resulted in serious physical and psychological injuries.

Judge O’Donnell said: “This was a cowardly assault with a weapon on a defenceless man.”

The judge took into account Morey’s early plea of guilty. Judge O’Donnell said the sentence should begin on January 18.