Mayo glass assault leaves victim with €11,000 dental bill

A MAN who had four teeth knocked out after he was hit with a pint glass outside a Mayo nightclub has been left with a dental bill of €11,000, a court has heard.

Joao Hermino Sousa Correia (23) of Middletown, Manulla, Castlebar, Co Mayo, was handed a three-year suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to assault causing harm outside The Castle late night venue, Castlebar Street, Westport on December 17, 2023.

Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court heard that the victim required surgery for his fractured jaw and stitches for deep cuts inside and outside his mouth after he was hit with the glass.

In a victim impact report read out on his behalf, he said he is continuing to undergo dental implant treatment, struggles with eating and with the ‘ongoing physical, financial and emotional consequences of this act of violence’.

Counsel for Correia said the accused was offering the sum of €3,000 as a token of his remorse, acknowledging that it went nowhere near the costs suffered by the injured party.

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In a ruling last Friday, Judge Eoin Garavan sentenced Correia to three years fully suspended for eight years, on condition that the accused return to Brazil within two weeks and not return to Ireland.

He also ordered that Correia pay the sum of €8,000, the balance of the victim’s €11,000 dental bill, within the next three years.

Judge Garavan told the victim he was sorry that he had got such ‘appalling injuries’ and said it was ‘in a case of extreme violence with terrible consequences’.

John Berry SC, defending Correia, said his client had expressed huge shame and remorse and when shown CCTV footage of the incident, said: “I’m not that kind of aggressive person and I’m so sorry and disappointed with myself.”

Correia, who is married with a child in Brazil, has no previous convictions and has not come to garda attention since.

He has completed three years of a degree in agriculture in Brazil before coming to Ireland on a tourist visa, and has worked part-time in Ireland as a general handyman and farm labourer.

Second incident

A PROSECUTING garda told Pat Reynolds, BL for the State, that it was the second of two separate glassing incidents which took place within minutes of each other inside and outside the same nightclub.

The court heard gardaí were called to the scene and met with security staff and two men injured in separate incidents.

Leonardo Rodrigo Jesus Rosa (35) of Orlagh Grove, Castlebar, Co Mayo also pleaded guilty to assault causing harm after he admitted throwing a pint glass into a crowded group on the dancefloor of The Castle at around 2am.

Gardaí arrived to find the victim with a 3cm deep laceration over his right eye and a smaller cut under his eye.

He required four stitches over his eye and has been left with a small scar, however he declined to make a victim impact report, the court heard.

Laura Byrne BL, defending Rosa, said he fully cooperated with gardaí, has no previous convictions and has not come to adverse attention since this offence.

She said that when Rosa identified himself throwing the glass on CCTV, he apologised and said: “What can I say after seeing something like that. I ask for forgiveness from his family and my family.”

The court heard Rosa and some others had been out with others for a staff party and had acted ‘on impulse’ to defend some of his companions in a pushing and shoving incident.

Huge shame

A probation report placed Rosa at low risk of reoffending and noted that he presented with genuine empathy for the victim and felt huge shame. Rosa offered €1,000 as a token of his remorse.

The court heard he has a good work history and had been living and working as a painter in Ireland for three years prior to the offence.

Rosa is married with a daughter and is the principal breadwinner for his family, counsel said.

Judge Garavan said the offence had been ‘done in anger and fuelled by alcohol’, but acknowledged that it was out-of-character for Rosa.

He set a headline sentence of three years but reduced this to 18 months on mitigation, and ordered Rosa to complete 200 hours of community service in lieu of sentence.