Man jailed for nose-biting assault
A south Dublin man has been given a three-year sentence for a “savage” assault during which he bit off part of another man’s nose.
Adrian Hickey (aged 34) became involved in a scuffle with the man because he believed that his girlfriend, who had been pushed after she approached the victim to ask if he was “slagging” her, was under threat.
Hickey, of Abbeyview, Monkstown, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm on nearby Abbey Road on October 2, 2005.
Judge Martin Nolan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court said the case was very serious as the victim had been left with “cosmetic defects” after a graft had to be taken from his forehead to replace the missing nasal tissue.
Judge Nolan said it was “an act of some savagery” and imposed a three-year sentence. He suspended the final two years taking into account his lack of serious convictions and previous good history.
Garda Daryl Gilmore told Mr Tony McGillicuddy BL, prosecuting, that the victim had left a pub with his girlfriend and was walking home along Abbey Road when he encountered Hickey and his then girlfriend, Denise Byrne, who is now his wife.
The man was having banter with his girlfriend and singing when Byrne asked if he was “slagging” her off and came across the road. He thought she was going to swing at him so he pushed her back. She stumbled and Hickey shouted: “Don‘t hurt my girlfriend”
Hickey came towards him and the man put up his hands to defend himself. Hickey threw a punch which missed the man, then got him in a head lock. They staggered and then fell to the ground. The struggled continued and their faces made contact.
The man felt a pain in his nose and as he pulled away he felt a tugging sensation which then released and he noticed a lot of blood. The struggle continued with the victim getting on top of Hickey at one stage and the pair falling into bushes, before the victim’s girlfriend pulled him away.
Part of the man’s nose was missing and he was taken to hospital. Gardaí who arrived at the scene found the severed piece of the man‘s left nostril, put it on ice and brought it to the hospital.
The missing piece of nose was reattached but later failed and he had a subsequent operation to have part of his forehead grafted onto his nose.
Hickey was arrested after the victim gave a description and he was identified as a suspect following a review of CCTV in the area. He told gardaí that the victim had been making lewd gestures, which he denied, and they grappled before fists were thrown. Hickey said he was bitten on the chest.
He told gardaí: “Anything could have happened when we were rolling on the ground.” He said he was not sure if he had bitten the man and said he did not set out to do so.
Hickey has three previous convictions for minor District Court offences.
Gda Gilmore agreed with defence counsel, Mr Colman Fitzgerald SC, that there had been a substantial amount of alcohol consumed.
Mr Fitzgerald said that neither Hickey nor the victim had any history of fighting and neither remembered biting the other.
He said Hickey had left school at an early age and spent a large number of years working in a local factory. He said he had also engaged in a significant amount of charitable fundraising through his association with a local football supporters' group.
Mr Fitzgerald said Hickey and Byrne were now married and he had two children from previous relationships. He said he was a man who had led a decent life and has not done himself justice by the way he had behaved.
He submitted Hickey was remorseful and the incident, in which perceived his girlfriend was under threat, was completely out of character.
