Man who glassed victim in nightclub will not serve any extra sentence

A first-time offender will not serve any extra jail time for a nightclub ‘glassing’ assault, despite an appeal by prosecutors which raised “significant issues”.

Jordan O’Donovan, aged 20, with an address at Willow Bank, Fairhill, Cork had pleaded guilty to assault causing serious harm to another man in the Savoy nightclub on Patrick St on December 27, 2013.

He was sentenced at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to three years imprisonment with the final two suspended by Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin on December 15, 2014.

The director of public prosecutions had sought a review of O’Donovan’s sentence on grounds that it was “unduly lenient”.

However, the Court of Appeal refused the DPP’s application holding that although lenient, the balance of the sentence was not so wrong as to render it “unduly lenient”.

Giving judgement, Mr Justice George Birmingham said a verbal exchange in the smoking area of the nightclub developed into a physical altercation.

O’Donovan struck the injured party with a glass he was holding.

As a result, the victim suffered a very serious eye injury and despite numerous operations, he had not recovered full sight at the time of sentencing.

The assault had a huge impact on his life and his family. He had been involved in sports but had not returned to these pursuits fearing they would put his eye at risk, Mr Justice Birmingham said.

Mr Justice Birmingham it was “beyond any question a serious offence”. The consequences for the victim, who was enjoying a night out with friends over Christmas, have been “horrendous”.

As this case had shown, the use of a glass or bottle in an assault is very likely to result in serious or permanent injury.

A custodial sentence was “inevitable”, Mr Justice Birmingham said. Even allowing for the many mitigating factors, the sentence imposed was “undoubtedly a lenient one”.

However, the DPP had not established that it represented a substantial departure from the norm and was therefore “unduly lenient”, the judge said.

In those circumstances, and having regard also to the fact that Mr O’Donovan had served his sentence and has returned to living and working in the community for the past 10 months, the court refused the application for a review of sentence.

Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan and Mr Justice John Edwards, said that the case had raised “significant issues” when reserving judgement last week.