Surgery saved man’s life after attack by ‘powerful’ rugby player

A punch thrown by a “big powerful rugby player” had such force that the brain of his victim bounced from side to side inside the skull and only surgery at University Hospital Cork saved his life, a court heard.

The man who carried out the attack outside a Co Limerick fast food premises, James Corbett, age 23, of Sharwood Estate, Newcastle West, became so violent when gardaí tried to arrest him a short time later, he had to be physically subdued.

Corbett, described as a big powerful man and a keen rugby player, pleaded guilty at Limerick Circuit Court to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Sean Ambrose, a 34-year-old father of two, on August 24, 2015.