Mayo man left with permanent scarring following assault with bottle

A BALLINA man who left a 22-year-old man with permanent scars on his face following an assault with a bottle has been sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Stephen Lawrence (23) of Cloonislaun, Ballina appeared before Castlebar Circuit Court where he pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Oisin McCarron in the Greenfields estate in Ballina on April 3, 2021.

The court heard that Ballina gardaí arrived at the Greenhills estate at 11.51pm shortly after receiving a report of a stabbing and discovered a male lying on the ground being treated by paramedics.

Mr McCarron had a large cut to his chin and lower face and was brought to Mayo University Hospital for treatment.

Detective Garda Patrick Lynn explained that Mr McCarron later gave a statement where he outlined that he and friends had been drinking in the estate that evening. An altercation took place between Mr McCarron and the defendant where punches were thrown and he told gardaí that when he was walking away he realised he was stabbed in his face and stomach.

READ MORE: Former Mayo GAA star says he'd love to be involved in a new management team

Broken bottle

The court was told a broken bottle was used in the offence and Mr Lawrence was later discovered in a car with his hands and clothing covered in blood. When asked about the blood, he stated he was in a fight in the Greenhills estate. When interviewed by Gardaí, Mr Lawrence admitted picking up the bottle to use as a weapon.

Mr McCarron attended Galway University Hospital and the medical report described the lacerations along the left side of the face as being 'quite deep'.

In a victim impact statement, Mr McCarron said his life changed following the attack and the scars on his face are not just skin deep but a daily reminder of what happened. He said he suffers from nightmares and panic attacks and has regular counselling to deal with PTSD.

“Since that day nothing has felt the same and I live in fear and am scared to go out and some days I do not want to leave my home. However, I force myself to leave as I hate to think Stephen has taken this from me as well.

“I have had people judge me because of my facial and neck scars. I have been to job interviews knowing the minute the interviewer saw my face they thought the wrong thing about me and in turn I was never offered those jobs,” he stated before adding he is not the same person as he was before.

Mr McCarron also showed Judge Garavan the extent of the scars to his face.

The court was informed that Mr Lawrence has been in custody since last September after he was refused bail after returning from the UK. Mr Lawrence pleaded guilty to the charge on February 10 last and was remanded in custody.

Mr Colm Smyth, senior counsel for the defendant, claimed that Mr McCarron was 'winding up' his client before the assault took place. Det Garda Lynn accepted that it appeared there was provocation from Mr McCarron before the assault.

Letter of apology

Mr Lawrence took the stand where he apologised for his behaviour on the date and wrote a letter of apology for the victim. He stated in the letter that while in prison he has had plenty of time to reflect on his actions and wanted to apologise for the physical harm and trauma he is going through as a result of his actions.

Judge Eoin Garavan was informed that Mr Lawrence has spent his time in prison working on his faults and bettering himself so he does not harm anyone again.

Mr Smyth said his client works in the industrial cleaning unit in the prison and is an enhanced prisoner who is engaging in education courses. He added that after his client's father died he made bad decisions and drank heavily.

Mr Lawrence said that while in the UK he worked in landscaping and had €5,000 for the victim as a token of remorse for his action. He asked Judge Garavan to be as lenient as he can when sentencing.

Mr Smyth said that his client knows that this was a serious assault and was remorseful and asked Judge Garavan to consider a suspended sentence.

Judge Garavan commented that this was a tragic matter and that Mr Lawrence may have faced a more serious charge.

He said the circumstances surrounding how the injury occurred was 'somewhat vague' and there was an element of provocation from the victim. However he said the victim was not deserving of the injuries which were inflicted and noted that it has had an impact on his life.

Judge Garavan also noted that Mr Lawrence was out of control at the time and using alcohol and drugs and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest in October 2021. However he accepted that this assault was not planned and was out of character and he believes that Mr Lawrence is genuinely remorseful and has insight into his behaviour.

He sentenced Mr Lawrence to two years and three months imprisonment and suspended the final eleven months for a two-year period and to come under the supervision of the Probation Service for one year post release.

Judge Garavan also backdated that sentence to when he first entered custody in September 2024.