One punch left man partially deaf and unable to taste
The victim, Adrian Scanlon, and his fiancé Aoife Bradley had been watching the final on July 5, 2007, and arranged to meet Ms Bradley’s brother Thomas in a pub in Tralee.
In Tralee, Mr Scanlon had “wandered off” and Aoife and Thomas Bradley went searching for him and found him in Milk Market Lane, adjacent to Rock St.
The court was told there may have been “a level of annoyance” and Bradley struck his sister’s fiancé with “a single blow” which saw him hit the pavement and a pool of blood develop. The event was captured at 11.45 pm on CCTV.
The base of Mr Scanlon’s skull had been fractured and he remained in intensive care at Kerry University Hospital for a week, the court was told.
Thomas Bradley, aged 33, of Arbella, Ballymacelligott, Co Kerry, pleaded guilty to a single count of assault causing harm to Mr Scanlon of Currans, Farranfore, Co Kerry, at Mill Market Lane, on July 5, 2015.
In a victim impact statement read to the court by Garda Stephen O’Brien, Mr Scanlon, who was not in court, said the event had “torn the family apart”.
His hearing in one ear was impaired, he could not get even the strongest of smells and had not been able to taste a dinner since.
“I can sense hot and cold, but that’s about it,” he said.
His relationship with Aoife had endured, but had almost fallen apart.
He was now back at work as a lorry driver and agricultural contractor.
His injuries had been physical — “but everyone had suffered emotional injuries. Relationships in the family will never again be the same,” Mr Scanlon said in his victim impact statement.
Garda O’Brien agreed with Anthony Sammon, defending, that Mr Bradley was intoxicated. It was never being argued that Mr Bradley intended harm — and the DPP had treated the matter as a “section 3” offence, not a more serious section 4 offence of assault causing serious harm, both prosecutor and defence counsel told the court.
Judge Thomas E O’Donnell adjourned to April to fix a date for finalisation.
