Man jailed for knuckle-duster assault

A north Dublin man with a history of violence has been sentenced to three years with 18 months suspended for punching his old schoolmate in the face with a brass knuckle-duster.

Oliver Joyce (aged 36) punched Mr Gerard Lacey believing he posed a threat to his ex-partner, who had given birth to a still-born child months before the attack.

Mr Lacey didn’t have time to block the punch and fell to the ground, fracturing his shoulder and ankle. He received two stitches near his eye from the blow and treatment for other cuts around his scalp.

Joyce, of Bath Road, Balbriggan, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to assaulting Mr Lacey in the smoking area of his local pub on October 15, 2005. He had 20 previous convictions including five for assault.

Judge Katherine Delahunt described it as an “unprovoked attack” that had left his victim with significant injuries.

She accepted that Joyce had made efforts to deal with his addiction but noted that he had left two residential treatment programmes of his “own accord” before he successfully completed the programme.

Judge Delahunt told Joyce she would give him credit for his efforts to “keep yourself on the straight and narrow for a considerable time” after she accepted that he has not come to garda attention since the assault.

She suspended the last 18 months of the sentence on strict conditions including that he continue with his drug treatment and undergo random drug testing.

Inspector Patrick Marry told Ms Cathleen Noctor BL, prosecuting, that Mr Lacey had recognised his old schoolmate in the pub lounge prior to the unprovoked attack.

Mr Lacey encountered Joyce later in the evening as he was returning inside from having a smoke.

Joyce challenged his victim for staring at him and took offence when Mr Lacey told him he was being paranoid.

Inspector Marry said Mr Lacey told gardaí he saw Joyce’s knuckle-duster as the punch was being thrown in his direction.

The inspector agreed with Mr Luigi Rea BL, defending, that his client was intoxicated on alcohol and tablets that night and had believed Mr Lacey was a threat to his ex-partner.

Mr Rea submitted to Judge Delahunt that Joyce had a drug problem but was attending a residential drugs program to rehabilitate himself.

Mr Rea submitted his client was “now seeking help (for his addiction) that he should have sought in his 20s” and was “greatly changed for the better.”