Young man headbutted outside Limerick pub after graduation

A PROMISING League of Ireland soccer player sustained a broken nose after he was headbutted after celebrating his graduation at a pub in Limerick city.

Jeff McGowan, 20, from County Clare was attending one of two graduation parties which were taking place at Mollys Pub, Ellen Street on the evening of May 27, 2016.

Another student – Richard Bateman, 21, of Castlequarter, Fedamore, has pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr McGowan outside the pub at around 1.45am.

During a sentencing hearing, Garda Raphael Liston said the unprovoked assault happened towards the end of the night as Mr McGowan was returning home.

“As he went to board a bus, he was headbutted straight in the face. It was unprovoked and unexpected,” he told John O’Sullivan BL, prosecuting.

Gardai were not called on the night and only became aware of what happened two days later when Mr McGowan made a formal complaint.

Garda Liston said CCTV was downloaded as part of the garda investigation and that the injured party also identified Mr Bateman as his assailant on Facebook.

When arrested and questioned a number of months later, the defendant made some admissions in relation to the night. 

He told gardai there had a been a number of incidents involving students from the two schools and that he believed Mr McGowan was responsible for an earlier incident in the toilets at the pub.

“I went towards him, I lashed out,” he said claiming Mr McGowan was “pumped up” and “looking for a fight”.

Barrister Jack Nicholas asked the court to note that a considerable amount of alcohol had been consumed on the night and that “student graduation nights tend to be messy nights”.

While accepting that Mr McGowan had done nothing to provoke his client, he asked the judge to note there had been “little instances going on inside and outside the bar” for most of the night.

He said Mr Bateman was “extremely apologetic and remorseful” and that what happened was a “total aberration and an absolute once-off”.

Mr Nicholas said the defendant, who is studying Accounting and Finance, had raised €2,500 which he was willing to offer as compensation to the victim.

Noting the submissions, Judge Tom O’Donnell agreed to adjourn the matter for 12 months for review.

The judge said the level of alcohol consumed on the night was a significant factor in what happened and he commented that the decision of Molly’s to host two graduation parties from different schools on the same night was a “catalyst” for what happened.