‘Ferocious dig in the face’ knocked girl out

A young man who knocked a girl unconscious with a “ferocious dig in the face” after a name calling incident has been ordered to do community service in lieu of a prison sentence.

Aaron Daly, aged 20, was out with his girlfriend and their friends when the group came across then 20-year-old Jamie Kelly and her friends. Daly’s group started shouting comments and Ms Kelly approached them about it.

She was walking away when a glass bottle was thrown in her direction. The bottle smashed and a piece of glass cut Ms Kelly’s arm, so she returned to the group and confronted them.

She subsequently told gardaí she has no recollection of what happened next because she was knocked out.

Ms Kelly was treated in hospital for a large cut above her left eye and swelling. She was too embarrassed to leave her house for a number of days because of her injuries.

Daly, of Primrose Grove, Darndale, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Ms Kelly causing her harm at Marigold Crescent, Darndale, on April 21, 2013. He was 17 at the time and has no previous convictions.

Judge Martin Nolan said it was a severe punch to the face which rendered Ms Kelly unconscious. He said there was no excuse for what Daly did.

Last October Judge Nolan had ordered a report from the Probation Service to see if Daly was suitable for community service and told him to have €1,500 in court for Ms Kelly on that date.

Yesterday, Judge Nolan noticed that the report was positive.

He ordered Daly to carry out 200 hours of community service over the next year in lieu of an 18-month prison sentence. The €1,500 was also paid over.

Sgt Damien Mangan told Lorcan Staines, prosecuting, that Ms Kelly’s friend witnessed the assault and later told gardaí that Daly hit the victim “a ferocious dig in the face and knocked her out”.

Aoife Nickle, defending, said her client was ashamed of his behaviour. She said he had since become a father and was also diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2014.