Assault victim' lucky to survive', court hears
An orthopaedic surgeon told a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court jury that a Sligo man was very lucky to survive an alleged assault on him with the few side effects he experienced.
Mr Hugh Smith told Mr Luan O Braonain BL, prosecuting, that Mr Barry Duggan (aged 37) was admitted to accident and emergency in James’ Hospital with a very severe head injury, which led to bleeding within and around his brain. He also suffered bruising to his brain and a fracture to his skull, eye socket and cheekbone.
Mr Smith was giving evidence in the trial of Stephen Nugent (aged 23) of St Werburgh’s, Swords, a tennis coach, and Dermot Cooper (aged 28) of Fosterbrook, Stillorgan, a university student, who have pleaded not guilty to assault causing serious harm to Mr Duggan on April 13, 2003.
Mr Smith said Mr Duggan spent up to two weeks in intensive care before he was transferred to the orthopaedic unit. He was discharged from hospital on May 8, 2003, but was under the continued care of a speech therapist, an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist until October 23, 2003.
Mr Smith agreed with Mr Patrick Gageby SC (with Ms Caroline Cummins BL), defending Mr Nugent, that the brain injury sustained by Mr Duggan was consistent with a person falling and hitting their head off the ground.
Mr Smith also agreed with Mr Michael O’Higgins SC (with Mr Bernard Condon BL), defending Mr Cooper, that it was very unlikely that the damage to Mr Duggan’s brain would have been caused by the fractures to his cheekbone and eye socket.
He further accepted from Mr O’Higgins that any fall, including a fall from a bicycle could cause the brain injury experienced by Mr Duggan. However he rejected a suggestion by counsel that if Mr Duggan had been left to his own accord the bleeding in his brain would have stopped and he would have made a full recovery.
Mr Smith said this was very unlikely as Mr Duggan had to spend two weeks in intensive care and required ventilation and sedation to aid his recovery.
Mr Smith told Mr O Braonain in re-examination that neither a punch nor a kick to the head would be likely to cause the brain injuries suffered by Mr Duggan, because significant force must be used to cause that much damage. Mr Smith said it was far more likely that the injuries occurred when Mr Duggan’s head hit the ground.
Mr Smith agreed with Mr O’Higgins in re-examination that it is possible for a person to fall off a bike, sustain a brain injury and not lose consciousness immediately. He said however it is unlikely that a person would be able to continue for some time and not feel the effects of the impact.
Earlier, Detective Garda Gerard Toomey told the jury that from the clothes that Mr Cooper, Mr Nugent and Mr Sean Cooper voluntarily gave to gardaí, it was known that Mr Cooper was wearing a dark long sleeved T-shirt and blue jeans on the night. Mr Nugent was wearing a cream, striped shirt and blue jeans and Mr Sean Cooper was wearing a short sleeved white T-shirt and blue jeans.
The jury was shown CCTV footage of the night from 14 cameras around the city centre. A camera outside the Q-Bar showed three males fitting the description of Mr Nugent, Mr Cooper and Mr Cooper’s brother, go into the pub and leaving again at 1.23am.
Footage also showed Mr Duggan walking up Grafton Street with his bike and the group of three men as they walked up Grafton Street towards Stephen’s Green.
The jury were shown footage from inside A-Wear which shows Mr Ross Sheridan busking and Mr Gavin Byrne and Mr Mark Fagan, who were eye witnesses on day two of the trial, stopping to listen to Mr Sheridan at approximately 2am. Mr Duggan and the three men can be seen walking past the doors of the shop.
The trial continues before Judge Donagh McDonagh and a jury of four women and eight men.
