Student acquitted in assault case resulting in wheelchair confinement

A jury at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has acquitted a second Dublin student who was accused of an assault which has resulted in the victim being confined to a wheelchair.

Eoin Hogan (aged 23) of Ballyogan Wood, Carrickmines was found not guilty by the jury after almost nine and a half hours deliberation on day 15 of the trial and was discharged from the court by Judge Michael White.

Yesterday his co-accused, Murray Cummings (aged 20) of Lower Kilmacud Road, Stillorgan, was also acquitted by the jury of 12 men.

Both men denied intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Mr David Fox (aged 22) at Taney Road, Dundrum, on August 14, 2002.

Judge White thanked the members of the jury for their service and said it was a credit to them that they gave such consideration to what he described as "one of the most difficult and tragic cases he had ever experienced". He excused them from service for 12 years.

During the trial, Mr Hogan admitted to kicking David Fox in the head while he lay on the ground but said it was a "knee jerk" reaction while "petrified".

Mr Cummings denied that he kicked Mr Fox in the head but said that he pulled the victim off his brother because Mr Fox had been kicking Rory as he lay on the ground.

Mr Hogan said that he was walking home through a petrol station forecourt with Murray and Rory Cummings when he was head butted by John Paul Roberts, a friend of Mr Fox's.

He said Mr Roberts, Mr Fox and Stephen Drury encircled him and threw punches and kicks. "I was terrified that if I went down I would die," he said.

Mr Hogan said he felt matters had taken a serious turn and he saw Mr Fox go to kick Rory Cummins in the head so he pushed Mr Fox away and punched Mr Roberts.

He said Mr Fox fell to the ground and hit his head off the concrete as another man ran towards them,

"I flipped, I lost it and kicked David Fox once in the head, so did Murray Cummins," he said.

Mr Cummings said as he pulled Mr Fox away from his brother the man kicked him so he started backing away. At this point Mr Fox told him that he was "dead" and he was "going to stab him".

He admitted that he and Mr Fox got into a scuffle but he pushed Mr Fox off him. He accepted that as the man was falling to the ground he may have kicked or punched him.

Dr Nicola Ryall of the National Rehabilitation Centre said that Mr Fox was found to have extensive bruising and bleeding in his brain and had multiple fractures to his skull.

He later had to have part of his skull cut open to allow surgeons to access the brain tissue underneath. They also had to remove part of his brain because it was so extensively damaged.

She concluded that Mr Fox's recovery had reached a plateau and although he required further physiotherapy, his cognitive and physical abilities were unlikely to improve.