Night out ended in tragedy for Waterford man who intervened in fight
Attending the inquest in Cork were Tina O'Leary and David O'Leary, the sister and brother of Richard 'Fetch' O'Leary of Dungarvan, Co Waterford, who died five days after an assault in the early hours of March 18, 2018. Picture: Larry Cummins
A celebratory night out ended in tragedy when a Waterford man was fatally assaulted just minutes after leaving his friends and was found lying unconscious in the snow, bleeding from his mouth.
Richard O’Leary, 36, was visiting home in Dungarvan, Co Waterford from the UK where he had been working, and went out with friends to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, 2018.
But after Mr O'Leary left his friends at approximately 12am he tried to intervene in an altercation. He was punched in the head and fell to the ground, smacking his head so hard on the road that witnesses heard a loud crack.
An inquest into his death at Cork Coroner’s Court heard that Mr O’Leary, also known as ‘Fetch’, was happy that night, saluting former neighbours and posing happily for a selfie less than one hour before the fatal assault.
“He was sound out, not one bit aggressive,” said one witness, who was under 18 at the time and so is not being named for legal reasons.
Another then-teenage witness said that Mr O'Leary praised him for stopping a man hitting out at two women, saying “no lad should ever hit a girl".
Sergeant James Fenton told the court that Mr O’Leary had come to shake his hand that night while he was out on patrol.
“He was in good form, merry,” Sgt Fenton said, and gave him a ‘thumbs up’ as he left in the patrol car.
But when Mr O’Leary left Ó Murchú's Bar on Mary St with friends close to midnight he did not get into a nightclub so walked away on his own.
Some 40 minutes later, he was on the ground in the snow, unconscious, and bleeding from his mouth.
Multiple witnesses spoke of hearing Mr O’Leary’s head hit the ground. “It was an awful noise, like you could hear his skull crack,” one teenage witness said.
Detective Sergeant Philip Dee told the court that CCTV footage taken that night showed the fatal assault on TF Meagher St in Dungarvan, the lead-up to it, and the aftermath, very clearly.
Mr O’Leary had stepped in to help some teenagers who were in an altercation with an older man. He pushed the man to protect the teenagers but then quickly made peace with the man and the pair shook hands.
However a few minutes later, when this man was being "lashed out at" by another man called Dean Harty, Mr O'Leary again intervened, pushing or punching Mr Harty in the back of the head.
Both men then pushed Mr O’Leary back and Mr Harty punched him twice in the head, he fell backwards and landed on the street.
It appeared as if the punches rendered him unconscious as he did not try to save himself from the fall, Sgt Dee said.
Mr Harty punched him again as he lay on the ground before he was pulled away by the other man.
Deane Harty, 29, had been charged with manslaughter at Waterford Circuit Court and had pleaded guilty to the single count of manslaughter on arraignment.
However, he died by drowning in Dungarvan in August, 2021, so was never sentenced for the crime. The inquest heard that he was upset about the assault and said that he hoped Mr O'Leary would survive. The court also heard witness statements which said that while Mr O’Leary was in good spirits and reasonably sober, Mr Harty was very drunk that night.
Gardaí were alerted to the assault at 00.56 on March 18, 2018, and arrived at the scene in 10 minutes where they found Mr O’Leary with a small amount of blood coming from his lip, semi conscious and making groaning noises, Det Sgt Dee said.
He was taken to South Tipperary Hospital by ambulance where a CT scan showed that he was suffering a brain bleed and he was transferred to Cork University Hospital where he was operated on.
But on March 23, he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and died.
State Pathologist Margot Bolster carried out an autopsy on March 24 at CUH and found his cause of death was a traumatic brain injury and a fall with contributory factors of propofol infusion syndrome and bronchopneumonia.
Coroner Philip Comyn said that Mr O’Leary intervened in an altercation between others and was then hit in the head and fell to the ground, hitting his head off the pavement.
He explained that it was not possible legally for the jury to give a verdict of unlawful killing in a situation where the assailant could be identified.
The jury of four men and two women returned a narrative verdict, which retells the basic facts of the case.
“On the 17th day of March 2018, Richard Aidan O’Leary, a 36 year old gentleman, late of 4 Cois Tra, Dungarvan, Co Waterford, had been out socialising when he became involved in an altercation," the narrative verdict said.
"Mr O’Leary was punched in the face, resulting in him falling backwards and hitting his head hard on the ground. Members of the public came to Mr O’Leary’s aid and an ambulance brought him to South Tipperary General Hospital in the early morning of the 18 March.
"A CT head [scan] revealed a traumatic brain injury. On the same day, Mr O’Leary was transferred to Cork University Hospital, where he underwent a decompressive craniotomy.
"Mr O’Leary was subsequently pronounced dead at 04.57 hours on the 23rd of March, 2018."
Read More
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
