Dublin man jailed for assault

A man who is "not naturally aggressive" has been given a four year and nine month sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court for two separate assaults last year.

Adrian Bruce aged 33, of Chancery House, Chancery Street, left his first victim with a fractured skull after he hit the pavement following the assault on Ormonde Quay on June 3, 2007.

The victim was out of work for three months and car was repossessed because he could not keep up with the loan repayments.

Bruce pleaded guilty to that assault and to assaulting another man man at Bodkins Bar, Bolton Street on September 29, 2005

Judge Katherine Delahunt said Bruce presented in court with serious previous convictions having heard evidence that his 31 previous convictions included possession of fire arms and escaping from custody by threatening a prison officer with a syringe.

She accepted that he "encountered problems at young age" with the early death of his mother and the fact that his father, Sam Bruce, was jailed for six years in 1999 after he was found in possession of the largest cache of heroin in the country at the time. Bruce was left to look after his younger siblings.

Judge Delahunt suspended the last 18 months of the sentence on strict conditions.

Garda Aidan Murphy told prosecuting counsel, Mr Pieter Le Vert BL, that Bruce deliberately poured a drink on a bouncer and was kicked out of a pub on Ormonde Quay on June 3, 2007. Outside the pub, he punched the victim who had intervened in an argument between him and his father.

The man's head hit the wall before he fell to the ground. He was treated for a fractured skull and suffers ongoing tinnitus and facial palsy which makes him look as if he has suffered a stroke.

Detective Garda Frank Tracey told Judge Delahunt that Bruce assaulted a bar man at Bodkins bar after a dispute about a deposit for a pool table.

Bruce told gardai that he hit the man a single punch and then left the pub. The unconscious bar man was not discovered for some time until his employer went looking for him.

Det Gda Tracey agreed with defence counsel, Mr Sean Gillane BL, that Bruce was "not naturally aggressive" but that with a combination of alcohol, drugs and a trigger "he can explode". He also agreed that the influence of Bruce's father upon him was "totally negative."

Mr Gillane said that Bruce's drink and drug problems had contributed directly to these offences for which he had expressed remorse. He said he normally presents as a quiet friendly individual and lives with his partner and three children.