Woman 'viciously assaulted' victim 'thinking she was performing sex act on my boyfriend'

Imposing a four-month prison term, the judge said: 'The victim’s whole feeling of self-worth has been damaged. Huge damage has been done to a young lady by another woman and a penalty has to be paid.'  Picture: iStock

A 21-year old Co Galway woman carried out a “vicious assault” on another woman who was on her knees due to the mistaken belief that the victim was performing a sexual act on the attacker's boyfriend.

At Gort District Court, Judge Patrick Durcan imposed a four-month prison term on Sarah Murphy of Cloondine, Gort for the “unprovoked and unwarranted” assault when kicking the 24-year-old into the face and the groin area at a 21st birthday celebration at Sullivan’s Royal Hotel in Gort in the early hours of August 11, 2019.

In a statement to gardaí, Murphy said that she blindly kicked out at the Galway city woman saying: “I thought the girl was performing a sexual act on my boyfriend”.

Murphy said her boyfriend was leaning up against the bar and she saw “a female down on her knees in front of my boyfriend’s crotch”.

Murphy pleaded guilty to the charge of assault causing harm of the woman and told gardaí: “I went up to her and I kicked her off him.” 

In fact, the victim, along with a female friend, were on their knees, rolling down the man’s jeans “for a bit of a joke” after seeing him wandering around with his jeans rolled up at the 21st birthday function at around 3am in the morning.

Solicitor for Murphy, Ann Gillane told Judge Durcan that her client “was extremely drunk and she totally misread the situation. She completely over-reacted”.

Judge Durcan said the victim was “foolish getting involved with the fella with the rolled-up trousers” but was subjected to a “vicious assault” by  Murphy.

He said 15 months after the assault, the victim is still emotionally suffering from it.

Judge Patrick Durcan praised the woman's victim impact statement as 'courageous'.

The judge praised the victim’s “very courageous” victim impact statement stating that it was “very graphic and very detailed”.

Imposing the four-month prison term, he said: “The victim’s whole feeling of self-worth has been damaged. Huge damage has been done to a young lady by another woman and a penalty has to be paid.” 

He told Murphy: “If you want to go out, get tanked, become a loose canon and inflict the level of damage you did, you better be prepared to take the consequences.”  Murphy wept as Judge Durcan imposed the four-month jail term and she was later released on bail pending an appeal to the circuit court.

Ms Gillane told Judge Durcan that there were “two ladies on their knees in front of this man and Ms Murphy totally misread the situation and she kicked out. She is extremely apologetic”.

Ms Gillane said that  Murphy “is a young woman with very good future prospects and comes from a very good family”.

Murphy told Gardai that at the 21st, she had Jägerbombs, three vodka whites and two or three shots to drink. She agreed with a garda that she had a lot to drink.

 Murphy said that after she found out who the victim was, she texted her two days later to apologise “and I told her my side of the story. She never texted me back”.

She told gardai: “This is completely not my thing. I have never been in any kind of trouble before. I don’t want this to affect my future especially my job as it is going on a steady path.” 

In court, the victim wept as she delivered her victim impact statement. She said the assault has impacted on her “in so many ways —  socially, emotionally and cognitively”.

The woman said she has felt “shame and embarrassment as the girl who got the shit kicked out of her at the birthday party”.

She said the attack shattered her confidence. “I am constantly on my alert due to the fear. I am exhausted by all of this. I just want to get free from the impact this has had on my life”.

The victim said she has gone to counselling to work through the impacts of the assault.