Ballina student had part of ear bitten off

Victim of bite reveals mental and physical effects of St Patrick’s weekend attack

A Ballina student who had part of his ear bitten off during a night out in the town has said he will be constantly reminded of what happened to him.
Stephen Reilly (21) from Ballina had a five centimetre bite along his right ear after being attacked by Jake Smyth (27) of The Ferns, Stonehall, Foxford.
The incident took place in the early hours after St Patrick’s Day last year and Smyth was jailed for three years.
Sergeant Margaret O’Connor gave details of the incident. She said the incident took place in the smoking area of Bar Square in Ballina in the early hours of March 18, 2019. Mr Reilly said he was bitten on the right ear for ‘four to five seconds’ by an unknown man and he could not identify him.
However, gardaí obtained CCTV which revealed it was Jake Smyth who bit Mr Reilly.
Sergeant O’Connor said Smyth was in a group where a girl was trying to take a selfie of the group. Failing to do so, she asked a member of a nearby group, which included Mr Reilly, to take it.
She said Mr Reilly stepped into the picture and placed his arm around Smyth’s girlfriend. Sergeant O’Connor said she looked annoyed. The group then parted but got together for a second picture and Mr Reilly again stepped in and placed his arm around Smyth’s girlfriend again. “She wasn’t happy,” Sergeant O’Connor said.
She said as the group parted again, Smyth’s girlfriend spoke to Jake Smyth who then went over to the other group. Sergeant O’Connor said he was talking to one man and then appeared to realise he was talking to the wrong man and then went up to Stephen Reilly, bit him on the ear and left the premises.
Medical reports revealed that Stephen Reilly has been left scarred. He wishes to have his ear reconstructed which will require three operations and will still leave a scar. He missed work and college as a consequence of his injuries.
In a victim impact report, Mr Reilly said he is a third year student of Finance and Economics at GMIT and said the incident had a ‘major effect’ on him. He said he does not socialise in his home town of Ballina anymore as he feels ‘unsafe’ and fears people sitting behind him in class.
He said he is ‘very conscious of my appearance’.
“Every day I look in the mirror is a constant reminder of what happened and will be for the rest of my life,” he said.
The court heard Smyth has 20 previous convictions, including for assault, public order, drugs and road traffic offences.
Defending counsel Diarmuid Connolly said his client suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and was ‘heavily intoxicated’ on the night in question. He said Smyth knew a prison sentence was inevitable and ‘has his bag packed’.
Judge Rory McCabe said it was not the first time there was trouble on St Patrick’s Day or its aftermath.
“What is meant to be a celebration of Ireland’s national day often ends up as an orgy of alcohol,” he observed.
He said that Smyth’s ‘level of culpability was extremely high’ and his conduct was ‘disgraceful’. He said he has ‘no confidence’ of rehabilitation and said he saw ‘no scope’ for suspending any of the sentence.
He sentenced Smyth to three years in prison.