Westport man jailed after headbutting man on Mayo street

A WESTPORT man who headbutted another man leaving him with a broken nose during a night out in Westport has been jailed for 20 months.

Brandon O'Connor (23) of Chestnut Grove, Westport appeared before Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court where he was sentenced after pleading guilty to assault causing harm to Cian Harty on Bridge Street, Westport in the early hours of December 10, 2022.

The court heard that Mr O'Connor and the victim had exchanged words earlier in the night in a pub and at approximately 12.30am Mr O'Connor met Mr Harty again outside McGreevey's shop at the top of Bridge Street and headbutted him into the nose.

Garda Paul Harte explained that gardaí met the injured party in Cosy Joe's pub shortly afterwards and noticed that his nose was bleeding. He said that Mr Harty was not able to tell gardaí much about what happened but he was upset.

A short time later, three males including the defendant presented themselves at Westport Garda Station and it emerged that the other two males were friends of the injured party and were chasing Mr O'Connor.

CCTV footage showed the incident and Mr O'Connor was identified crossing the street towards the injured party and headbutting Mr Harty. He suffered a broken nose and in a victim impact statement Mr Harty stated that his nose does not look that same and he was informed by doctors that they will never be able to get it back to what it was. He added he fears going out at night and meeting Mr O'Connor and he suffered financially as he had to take time off work due to the broken nose.

Mr O'Connor was later arrested and admitted to the offence and the court was told he has three previous convictions and received a custodial sentence for violent disorder and aggravated burglary in 2023.

Garda Harte confirmed that he has not come to the attention of gardaí since this incident and any interaction he had with him he was polite and respectful with him.

Mr Mark Ryan, counsel for Mr O'Connor, said he accepted that the probation report put his client at a very high risk of reoffending but felt there was a lot of hope in it for his client. He said the report identified issues faced by Mr O'Connor which included lack of employment.

Judge Eoin Garavan asked him what he was doing about this and also noted that the probation officer had identified his 'lack of motivation' for him not working and questioned if this was now an excuse for not doing something.

Mr Ryan said his client has addiction issues but is making efforts to better himself and is willing to go into treatment for his addictions. He also said he wishes to apologise to Mr Harty for his actions on the night.

Judge Garavan described what happened and another senseless act of violence due to Mr O'Connor attacking someone he did not know and could not remember what happened due to his intoxication.

He noted his previous sentence included robbery, violent disorder and aggravated burglary and described Mr O'Connor as 'violent and dangerous'.

Judge Garavan sentenced Mr O'Connor to two and a half years imprisonment but suspended the last ten months of the sentence for a two year period on the condition he comes under the care of the Probation Service for one year post release.

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